With much of Congress on Israel’s side as it wages a defensive war against the terrorist group Hamas, a swath of House lawmakers is expressing hostility to the Jewish state.
Most of those who have consistently cast Israel-critical votes in recent years are Democrats, and they’re increasingly causing headaches for their party’s leadership. They’re also complicating dynamics for President Joe Biden as Hamas fires thousands of rockets into Israel and the country responds with deadly strikes in Gaza.
Members of the far-left “Squad,” who are relatively recent additions to Congress, are among the most hostile to Israel.
Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan on Wednesday are planning to introduce a resolution that would block a planned $735 million sale of bombs to Israel.
FEINSTEIN STAFFER FUNNELED MILLIONS TO STEELE AND FUSION GPS
The resolution stands in stark contrast to the congressional response in 2014 after Hamas fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. The then-majority Republican House agreed to without objection a resolution written by former New York Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat, that asserted “Israel’s right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel” and stressed that “Hamas is a United States-designated terrorist organization.”
“The United States should not be rubber-stamping weapons sales to the Israeli government as they deploy our resources to target international media outlets, schools, hospitals, humanitarian missions and civilian sites for bombing,” Ocasio-Cortez said about the resolution in a tweet.
Apartheid states aren’t democracies.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 15, 2021
Accusations of Israel being an “apartheid state” from Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has also been accused of spreading antisemitic tropes by saying that the Israel lobby is “all about the Benjamins,” have also shaken up the normal pro-Israel dynamic in the House.
But it is not just the Squad pushing the boundaries. The Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib resolution was also sponsored by Democratic Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan. And Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, has introduced legislation she says is aimed at prohibiting American aid from being used in the Israeli detention of Palestinian minors. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has criticized the measure, saying it “will create new rules and restrictions just for Israel, weaken Israel’s security, undermine the US-Israel relationship, and reinforce Palestinian resistance to direct talks.”
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, has also ruffled feathers with this stance. “We must also take a hard look at nearly $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel. It is illegal for U.S. aid to support human rights violations,” he said in a tweet on Sunday.
The devastation in Gaza is unconscionable. We must urge an immediate ceasefire. The killing of Palestinians and Israelis must end. We must also take a hard look at nearly $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel. It is illegal for U.S. aid to support human rights violations.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 16, 2021
AIPAC on Monday started running digital Facebook ads targeting Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pocan, Tlaib, and Sanders for their criticism of Israel.
Their stances, though, are part of a larger shift away from a uniform and unapologetic pro-Israel stance as a baseline for the powerful politicians.
In 2019, 16 House Democrats and one House Republican, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, voted against a resolution condemning the anti-Israel “boycott, divestment, and sanctions” movement. Every 2020 Democratic primary candidate except former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg skipped the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference last year.
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a longtime staunch Israel ally, issued an unusual statement on Saturday, saying that he is “deeply troubled by reports of Israeli military actions that resulted in the death of innocent civilians in Gaza as well as Israeli targeting of buildings housing international media outlets,” referencing an Israeli strike on a building in Gaza that housed the Associated Press and that Israel said also housed Hamas military intelligence.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
On Monday, 29 Democratic senators, led by Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, called for an immediate ceasefire, going much further than most Republicans who reasserted support of Israel and its right to self-defense.
Democratic leaders were not as explicit but edged that way. The White House later released a readout between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that said the president “expressed his support for a ceasefire.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi followed with a brief statement saying that “it has become even more apparent that a ceasefire is necessary.”
