Progressive House Democrats attempted to prevent U.S. funding for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
It was an antisemitic act of warped virtue signaling. By singling out the Jewish state and siding with its adversaries — Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the main supporter of those terrorist groups, Iran — these progressives have demonstrated their ideological determination and growing clout.
True, on Thursday, the House overwhelmingly passed a $1 billion bill to support the Iron Dome. But Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush, Marie Newman, Raúl Grijalva, Andre Carson, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, and Thomas Massie (the only Republican to vote against the bill) all opposed the allotment.
There is a distinct unpleasantness in play here. What kind of hatred does one need to oppose a provision of defensive support to the Israeli people? Massie might argue Israel should pay for the Iron Dome itself, but the progressives have no such excuse. After all, it’s not as if they’re hesitant about spending trillions of dollars on the Democratic Party’s other pet projects!
Absent countermanding GOP votes, those nine members can sink any Democratic legislation amid an eight-seat Democratic majority. But the progressive albatross over the House should alarm everyone. Willing to abandon Israeli civilians to Hamas rocket fire, the progressives cannot be trusted to do the right thing — however obvious it might be.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
