12 Dems join GOP lawmakers to threaten UN funding over 'ongoing hostility' to Israel
FIRST ON FOX: More than 100 bipartisan House lawmakers are warning that the United Nations’ funding could be on the line if the international entity retaliates against Israel over its war with Hamas.
"We write to express our deep concern about prospective efforts of the Palestinian Authority to downgrade Israel’s status at the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) and strip the State of Israel of its key privileges in the body," a letter led by Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla, read.
"Any downgrade in Israel’s status or standing at the UNGA will result in a corresponding downgrade of U.S. financial, material and political support to the U.N."
The message, sent to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, was signed by 105 of their Republican and Democrat colleagues.
Signatories include all the House Republican leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and 11 House Democrats, in addition to Moskowitz – a testament to the significant support Israel continues to receive from Congress, particularly in the House of Representatives.
The lawmakers said they were "outraged" by the UNGA’s recent adoption of a resolution demanding Israel return all land and assets it settled in the Palestinian Territories since 1967. It also calls on nations to halt treaty and trade relations with Israel where Palestinian territories are involved.
They warned the decision, particularly as it relates to forcing Israel out of the West Bank, is "undercutting Israel’s right to defend itself" from Hamas after the Oct. 7 terror attack by the Palestinian militant group "with no recognition or consideration of Israel’s legitimate security concerns."
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"Congress has taken note of the numerous U.N. actions aimed to delegitimize Israel’s right to self-defense, raising serious questions over the future of U.S. funding to the U.N.," the lawmakers wrote. "We remind you that the U.S. is the largest donor to the U.N. Our contributions account for one-third of the body’s collective budget."
The letter also accused the U.N. of having "definitively taken sides against Israel," rather than remaining a "neutral body."
"We will not accept the U.N.’s ongoing hostility to our ally Israel," they wrote.
It comes as cease-fire talks are expected to restart after Israeli forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attack.
Israel has enjoyed a level of steady support in Congress throughout its war in Gaza, even as a growing number of Democrats are criticizing the Middle Eastern nation for the scores of Palestinian deaths caused as it works to eradicate Hamas.
Roughly half of congressional Democrats skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of the House and Senate earlier this year.