House Introduces Bill Denying Aid To Nations Supporting Palestinian State

Four Democrats in the U.S. House have introduced a bill that would deny foreign aid to any country that votes for Palestinian statehood in the upcoming United Nations referendum.

The bill introduced Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives by four lawmakers -- Reps. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Robert Brady (D-Pa.) -- would target dozens of nations that receive assistance ranging from the hundreds of thousands of dollars to billions. "We won't allow other countries to vote against our best friend with one hand in the U.N. and come to Congress to seek taxpayer dollars with the other hand," said Israel. The bill would include a standard presidential national security waiver. The Obama administration has said that the Palestinian Authority effort to secure statehood recognition this month would set back the prospect for renewed peace talks and has pledged to veto the bid should it come to the Security Council.

In a separate action, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and eight other House Republicans announced a similar bill that would deny U.S. funding to "any UN body that enhances the Palestinian status." Lehtinen is the chair of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee.