Split US Congress quarrels over new aid to Israel and Ukraine

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden wants Congress to quickly pass billions of dollars in new aid for both Israel and Ukraine, but the Republican-controlled lower chamber on Thursday is set to consider a bill that puts Kyiv on the back burner.

Debate over the funding request is beginning in earnest after a weeks-long delay while House Republicans struggled to name a new speaker, and it is unclear what, if anything, can get through both chambers.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress want to promptly adopt military aid for Israel, a long-standing US partner at war with Hamas. Things get more complicated, however, when it comes to Ukraine.

Washington is Kyiv´s biggest military backer, having committed tens of billions of dollars since Russia invaded in February 2022. But Biden´s pledge of undisrupted financial support, reiterated during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky´s visit to Washington in September, looks to be in jeopardy. In the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold only a slim majority, a few hard-line conservatives have demanded an immediate end to Ukraine funding.