By Joseph Strauss
A majority of House Democrats, including all Colorado Democrats in the House, voting on July 22 backed Rep. Thomas Massie’s amendment to cut military aid to Israel.
The amendment was soundly defeated after getting no support from Republicans with the exception of its sponsor, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has made his disagreement with his party on Israel a signature issue.
Massie lost his primary for relection.
The amendment, which proposed cutting $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel, drew support from some Democrats with records of supporting Israel, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts.
In total, 103 Democrats voted in favor while 98 voted against, with another 10 abstaining. There are 212 Democrats in the House.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York opposed the amendment, though he called for a “change in direction” in the American-Israeli relationship.
Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the minority whip and the party’s second-ranking House member, supported it.
The vote is the latest reflection of how American military support for Israel has plunged in popularity among Democrats.
Earlier this year, all but seven Senate Democrats voted in favor of a Bernie Sanders-led resolution to block certain weapons sales to Israel.
Massie’s amendment received broader support than the separate Block the Bombs Act, which would prohibit the sale of certain weapons to Israel and has gradually gained support among House Democrats, with 77 of them now co-sponsoring the legislation.
Both the Democratic Majority for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition were pleased with the defeat of the amendment.
“The House was right to reject Representative Thomas Massie’s reckless amendment. It would have weakened Israel, emboldened Iran and its terrorist proxies, and undermined American security interests,” the Democratic Majority for Israel said.
The Republican Jewish Coaltion said:
The Democratic party’s “vociferous hostility to Israel is not the fringe, it is their future.
“Make no mistake, Thomas Massie is a voice of one in the Republican Party.”
Massie was the only Republican to vote in favor of his amendment, with the other 215 voting against.
“He is a lame duck outlier, and the Republican majority left no doubt about where our party stands: resolutely with the Jewish state,” the RJC said.
A handful of progressive candidates sharply critical of Israel have won Democratic congressional primaries. The Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, a pro-Palestinian group, said that Democrats who voted against Massie’s amendment would also face challengers down the road.
A number of Democrats put out statements saying that they voted in favor of the amendment, but would continue to support subsidies for defensive weapons.
Massie’s amendment did not target the $500 million designated for missile defense programs like the Iron Dome.
J Street did not support the amendment, calling it “overly broad” and a “poorly drafted political stunt designed to divide Democrats.” Nonetheless, the group wrote that it welcomed “House Democratic leadership taking a stronger stance on using US leverage to pressure the Israeli government to change course.”
Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, wrote that Republicans pushed the vote forward as “a cynical political ploy,” and that “Republicans and Democrats alike — even many of those who voted for it — haven’t turned their back on Israel, recognizing there’s a distinction between the people of Israel and the current Israeli government.”
New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, who is Congress’ most senior Jewish member, did not vote. He said that the vote would have unintended consequences such as eliminating funding for US Embassy operations in Israel or for peace-building initiatives traditionally supported with US aid.
Clark, the minority whip, also called the amendment “overly broad,” but supported it anyway, “not because I agree with the entirety of the amendment, or the GOP’s cynical motivations for its consideration, but because I believe we must change course.”
