A Republican senator says President Obama’s White House team has been opposing a relief package for regions of Iraq liberated from the Islamic State because it includes funding for Israel, but is hopeful that Democratic senators will help pass the bill anyway.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after a classified briefing from the Pentagon Thursday that the goal of the bill is to help redevelop places liberated from the Islamic State, to people who fled the terrorist group can return.
“If you want people to stop coming to Europe and the United States, let them go back to Fallujah or Ramadi, Sinjar and other places,” he told reporters. “Without some help, they’re not going to come back.”
Secretary of State John Kerry wants $1 billion of that funding to focus on Iraq, Syria and Libya, according to Graham, who also wants to send money to regional allies such as Jordan and Israel.
Graham believes Kerry supports him, but that their shared goal has been thwarted by the White House, which has a sour relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu. “John Kerry is on my side,” the South Carolina Republican told the Washington Examiner. “The problem is this sort of animosity, I guess, toward Bibi and his government.”
Netanyahu — an ardent critic of Obama’s policies toward Iran — has had a tense relationship with President Obama for years, culminating in his reelection as Israel’s prime minister in the midst of reports that Obama hoped for his defeat.
Graham said he raised the issue during the classified briefing and received a warm reception from a powerful trio of Democrats: New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader-in-waiting; Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Sen. Pat Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
“I want to do more for the region, not just Israel, and I think I’ve got a lot of Democrats come up to me and said ‘this is ridiculous,'” Graham said. “I had Schumer — I had a bunch of people come up and say ‘I want to help you get more money for Israel because they’re under threat, and I want to help the region as a whole.'”
