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The New York Times reported this week that on Russian state television, commentators have reacted to Hamas’ attack on Israel “with thinly veiled glee.” It’s not that the Kremlin is necessarily aligned with Hamas, but rather, as the article put it, Russia sees the crisis as “the start of a war that could sap Western support for Ukraine.”
It was against this backdrop that one controversial Republican senator pushed a provocative line via social media. The Times added in a separate report:
“Any funding for Ukraine should be redirected to Israel immediately,” Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
The GOP senator justified this position by adding that Israel “is facing existential threat.”
The seriousness of the crisis in Israel must not be downplayed. It is nevertheless also true that Ukraine is facing existential threat: It's been invaded by the country's Russian neighbor, which does not believe Ukraine should exist.
What’s more, the United States is the preeminent global superpower with the world’s largest economy. It has the resources to help our allies in Israel and Ukraine, and to suggest that this is an either/or dynamic is bizarre.
Just as notably, Hawley’s online missive is part of a larger conversation. As officials in Moscow hope the crisis in Israel will weaken Western support for Ukraine, Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, took steps to assure our allies that American assistance for our Israeli allies wouldn’t come at the expense of our Ukrainian allies.
She told reporters that the United States could both “stay focused on our partnership and commitment to Israel’s security, while also meeting our commitments and promise to continue supporting Ukraine, as it defends its territory and protects all of the values that all of us hold dear here across the NATO alliance.”
Or put another way, Smith wants NATO members to listen to the Biden administration, not the Missouri Republican.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, The New Republic noted that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell this week “was among several bipartisan lawmakers who pushed for a spending package that would link aid for Israel with support for Ukraine and Taiwan. The hope is to convince Ukraine aid skeptics, like Hawley, to continue supporting the country as support diminishes in the GOP-controlled House.”
Republican opposition to this approach is likely to be fierce, not only from Hawley, but also from much of the House GOP. Watch this space.