Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued statements on April 16 calling for Congress to appropriate $12 million to fund cooperation between the United States and Israel in combating COVID-19.
The senators are pushing for the $12 million to be included in the next COVID-19 relief package in the coming weeks. The funds would be divided into increments of $4 million during fiscal years 2021-2023 toward a bilateral program between the U.S. and Israeli governments.
“Our dependence on China for life-saving medications and treatments is deeply problematic,” Cruz said in a statement. “Israel is not only our friend and ally, but also a global leader in medicine with which we already cooperate on exactly those issues. I’m proud to push forward to ensure both American and Israeli companies can work together to develop cures and treatments to defeat COVID-19.”
Coons similarly said in a statement, “The United States and Israel are world leaders in the medical technology industry, and it is in the interest of all Americans, Israelis, and the rest of the world that we work together to fight COVID-19. This virus knows no borders, and our bill underscores the importance of international collaboration in the face of a truly global pandemic.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) thanked the senators in a tweet. “Israel is a world leader in medical innovation,” it wrote, adding in a subsequent tweet, “Increased medical and health cooperation between the United States and Israel will help fight #COVID19 and greatly benefit the American people.”
Israel is a world leader in medical innovation.
Today, @SenTedCruz and @ChrisCoons announced a bipartisan effort to enhance U.S.-Israel medical partnerships aimed at combating #COVID19.
These partnerships will greatly benefit Americans.https://t.co/YJL2IkWPE6
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) April 16, 2020
Thank you @ChrisCoons and @SenTedCruz for leading this important bipartisan effort.
Increased medical and health cooperation between the United States and Israel will help fight #COVID19 and greatly benefit the American people.https://t.co/8povVTcxuX https://t.co/vDNTg2XcvI
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) April 16, 2020
Two Israeli treatments – the drug Opaganib and placental expanded cells – have seen some initial success with their use on patients. At the end of March, the Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva donated 10 million tablets of the drug hydroxychloroquine – which typically has been used to treat malaria, lupus and arthritis – to the U.S. to help treat COVID-19.
