The Senate beat back an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul to limit foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza.
It failed 44-50 as the chamber neared a final vote on a short-term government funding patch that would keep the lights on until March.
“The only thing consistent about American foreign aid is that the money continues to flow, regardless of the behavior of the recipients,” Paul (R-Ky.) said. “You would think with the massacre and everything else why would we be giving any money to the Palestinians … shouldn’t they have to do something to earn the money?”
He added: “The time has come for the United States to mean what it says in the defense of human rights.”
Paul’s amendment would also have required a report from the State Department on human rights practices by the Palestinian Authority within 30 days of the adoption of the continuing resolution.