GOP anti-Semitism resolution passes House, breaking Democrats

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.) was one of 13 Democrats who voted against the resolution.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a resolution condemning the “significant rise in anti-Semitism” in the United States and around the world in the wake of Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 — a vote that divided Democrats and sparked liberal accusations that Republicans were trying to “weaponize “Jewish Pain.”

The chamber voted 311-14-92 to approve MeasuresWhich reaffirms the House of Representatives’ strong support for the Jewish community around the world; Calls on elected officials and world leaders to condemn anti-Semitism; It rejects all forms of terrorism, hatred, discrimination and harassment against individuals in the Jewish community and “declares clearly and firmly that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.”

The House approved the resolution despite last-minute efforts by a group of prominent Jewish Democrats to urge members of their caucus to vote “present” on the legislation — which 92 members did.

Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Dan Goldman (D-MD) issued a statement Earlier Tuesday, he blasted the resolution as “the latest half-hearted attempt by Republicans to use Jewish pain and the serious problem of anti-Semitism as a weapon to score cheap political points.”

The coalition said the measure was unnecessary because the House of Representatives last week approved a resolution affirming Israel’s right to exist as an independent state, while also saying the measure taken Tuesday “does not take into account the complexity of Judaism itself and ignores nuanced examples such as the Satmar sect.” , a Hasidic Jewish movement, which remains strongly anti-Zionist and is clearly not anti-Semitic.

They added: “In order to prevent the majority from playing these political games, we will vote with the present, and we urge our colleagues – regardless of their substantive views on the decision – to do the same.”

Thirteen Democrats voted against the resolution: Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (New Jersey), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan), Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), Summer Lee (Pennsylvania), and Raúl Grijalva (Arizona). ), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (Illinois), Jamaal Bowman (New York), Gerry Connolly (Virginia), Cori Bush (Missouri), Pramila Jayapal (Washington), Delia Ramirez (Illinois) and Ilhan Omar (Minnesota). .). Representative Thomas Massie (Kentucky) was the only Republican to oppose the measure.

The House considered the resolution — led by Reps. David Kostoff (Tenn.) and Max Miller (Ohio), the chamber’s Jewish Republicans — after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). mentioned A significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas.

The organization said on October 24 that it had recorded a 388 percent increase in reports of harassment, vandalism and attacks in the period following the Hamas attack compared to the same period last year. The group said that of the 312 anti-Semitic incidents recorded between October 7 and 23, 190 of them were “directly linked” to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Tuesday’s resolution is the latest legislation approved by the House of Representatives to show solidarity with Israel since a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people. An estimated 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the month since Israel continued its offensive against Hamas.

Hamas took about 240 Israeli hostages during the initial attack, and more than 100 of them were released during a seven-day truce.

Last week, the House of Representatives approved a resolution calling on Hamas to immediately release all hostages. Before that, the Council issued resolutions condemning support for Hamas and Hezbollah in universities, and others supporting Israel and condemning Hamas.

Laura Kelly contributed.

Updated: 3:21 p.m