FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is moving to insulate Israel from any possible political turbulence at the United Nations.
A bill led by Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., would block funding from U.N. agencies that try to restrict Israel’s participation in global affairs.
"With anti-Israel bias running rampant at the UN, it is more crucial than ever that we stand up to this disgusting hypocrisy and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our closest ally," Lawler told Fox News Digital. "We should not be giving a single cent to any UN agency that diminishes the status of Israel."
Moskowitz said, "The United Nations has been biased and almost useless after Hamas murdered over a thousand innocent Israelis, but has held Israel to a ridiculous, antisemitic double standard when it has exercised its right to defend itself."
The Florida Democrat, who is Jewish, urged the U.N. to use its influence to pressure Hamas into accepting a cease-fire deal.
The new bill comes a month after the U.N.’s top court issued a non-binding opinion ordering Israel to immediately stop settlement construction in the West Bank.
The U.N. has also been sounding an increasingly loud alarm about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza amid Israel’s military response to Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7 last year.
The U.S. has largely stood by Israel through the conflict. In April, the U.S. vetoed a draft resolution to recommend full U.N. membership status for a Palestinian state.
Lawler and Moskowitz’s bill would stop funding to the U.N. or any related agency "that expels, downgrades or suspends membership, or otherwise restricts the participation of Israel such that it may not participate fully and equivalently with 15 other Member States of the United Nations or the respective fund, program, specialized ageney, or other related entity," according to bill text obtained by Fox News Digital.
The bill has support from two additional Democrats and 21 House Republicans. Both of those Democratic co-sponsors, Reps. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.Y., are Jewish.
It was introduced just as Democrats kick off their presidential nominating convention in Chicago, which has already seen fierce anti-Israel protests.
DEMOCRATIC HEAVYWEIGHTS TO SPEAK AT PARTY'S CONVENTION; PREPARING FOR LARGE PALESTINIAN PROTESTS
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Demonstrators walked the streets of Chicago calling Vice President Kamala Harris a "killer" and demanding policy changes on Gaza.
Some on the left were outraged when the national party released a platform that did not call for an arms embargo on Israel. A group of delegates in Chicago, called "Delegates Against Genocide," is planning to protest the decision, according to The Times of Israel.
