WASHINGTON, November 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) today asked a federal court to block pending foreign aid payments to Israel while a case examining its legality is litigated.The motion for a preliminary injunction (PDF) seeks to immediately block $3.1 billion in foreign aid plus various other supplemental appropriations destined for Israel from leaving the U.S. Treasury Department.According to the lawsuit, filed in August and amended in November, 2016 (PDF), U.S. aid to Israel is illegal because it violates longstanding amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The Symington & Glenn amendments ban or subject to mandatory waivers U.S. foreign aid to countries with nuclear weapons programs that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty More.
