New Delhi, July 24 -- WASHINGTON - The House passed its 2027 defence spending legislation on Wednesday by 216 votes to 212, the narrowest possible margin for a measure that for decades has been one of the rare pieces of American legislation that moved through Congress with broad, quiet support. This year it did not. Seven Republicans joined 205 Democrats in opposing a bill that its critics on both sides of the aisle described less as a defence authorisation and more as a political document committing the United States to a deeper military partnership with Israel at a moment when that partnership has no domestic consensus behind it.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky was among the seven members of his own caucus who voted...