House approves contentious resolution on Israel
“People here get bullied here easily when it comes to this issue,” Rashida Tlaib says.
The House on Friday overwhelmingly approved a contentious measure on Israel over the protest of the caucus’s progressive wing, resurfacing tensions on an issue that has recently emerged as a wedge for Democrats.
The resolution — which reaffirms support for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine — ends months of ugly infighting within a caucus increasingly at odds about what was once a basic tenet of U.S.-Israel policy.
Four Democrats opposed the bipartisan measure, all liberal freshmen, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, as well as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Five Republicans backed the measure.
“It actually doesn’t recognize the biggest problem is the current leadership and the party that’s in power there,” Tlaib said of the resolution. “The word occupation isn’t even in the resolution.”
The measure had been slated to come to the floor in July, but top Democrats were forced to abandon plans for the vote amid a revolt by the staunchest pro-Israel supporters.
Months later, a group of progressive Democrats renewed their push for the vote, which leadership had promised to them after the Housevoted to condemn the anti-Israel boycott — again, over liberal objections — this spring. But efforts to tweak the resolution caused further angst in the caucus, with even its author, Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), at one point voicing frustrations with the process, according to multiple people involved.
The latest version, however, has also drawn flak from Tlaib and some of her allies, who have complained of a new bipartisan provision that specifically reaffirms the U.S. commitment to military aid to Israel — another win for pro-Israel supporters.
The amendment was drafted by a group of staunch Israel allies, including Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), as a direct shot at presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who declared last month that the U.S. should “leverage” aid to Israel based on whether it agrees to end settlement expansion into territory claimed by Palestinians.
“This vote officially puts to rest the splinter view of adding conditions on aid to Israel, and reinforces our commitment to preserving a two-state solution,” Gottheimer said in a statement on the resolution.
One progressive leader in the House, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), ultimately voted for the bill but complained about the “last minute changes to weaken the resolution.”
“My vote does not tie me at all to providing future aid to Israel should it continue to abuse the human rights of the Palestinians,” Jayapal said.
Tensions flared at a private meeting of Democratic lawmakers on Thursday, when Tlaib, whose grandmother lives in the West Bank, delivered a passionate rebuke of the resolution and declared she would not support it, according to multiple attendees.
Political dynamics surrounding Israel have been the source of a long-simmering feud between the caucus’s senior Jewish lawmakers and its newly elected liberal members. Tlaib and Omar have also been publicly critical of U.S. support toward Israel, drawing repeated charges of anti-Semitism from Republicans and, at times, their own party.
“People here get bullied here easily when it comes to this issue,” Tlaib said, clearly agitated as she left the meeting.