WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate restored $4 billion in cuts to the Obama administration’s foreign assistance proposals.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbied hard for the amendment crafted by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) that restored the money to the $53.8 billion proposed by the White House; the cuts had been inserted while the budget cleared the requisite Senate committees.
The amendment bringing the budget back up to Obama’s proposed levels passed late Thursday.
It’s not clear whether the cuts would have affected assistance for Israel or the Palestinians; Israel stands to receive just under $3 billion this year, and the Palestinians just under $1 billion.
AIPAC traditionally strongly backs the passage of foreign assistance as a whole.
