WASHINGTON– Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) criticized a bill proposed by fellow GOP Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), which calls for the immediate defunding of all US payment to the United Nations. The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) told Jewish Insider on Thursday that the Cruz and Graham bill is “taking a hammer that something a scalpel might well be more useful.”

The legislation was referred to the SFRC on January 12 but the Tennessee lawmaker appeared skeptical that it would pass the committee. “I don’t know our committee is going to take it up,” Corker noted. He also explained that he supports addressing “anti-Semitic behaviors” at the international body, but using more targeted measures. “That’s using a blunt instrument when there may be a better way of getting a better outcome,” Corker concluded.

Cruz and Graham’s bill clarifies that they would support resumption of American financial support if the December UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2334 assailing Israeli settlements were overturned. Such a scenario appears improbable because it would require China, France, Britain, and Russia to all agree given that each country has veto power at the UNSC.