Pro-Israel Democrats in Congress were divided on Friday about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take military control of Gaza City, with views ranging from support to skepticism to condemnation.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) called the decision “tactically questionable and strategically self-defeating.”
“If implemented, the decision is more likely to play into Hamas’s original objectives in starting this war and further unite much of the world against Israel than it is to bring home the last surviving hostages and advance the security needs of the nation,” the Jewish congressman said.
The Israeli Security Cabinet voted by a “decisive majority” on Friday to order the Israel Defense Forces to prepare “taking control of Gaza City, while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” the prime minister’s office said.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) called the plan “morally reprehensible.”
“It is clear that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s personal and political interests are guiding Israel’s actions, rather than what is best for the Israeli people or for the nation of Israel,” Goldman said.
“Since the Biden temporary ceasefire agreement ended in March, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ineffective military operation in Gaza has only led to more unnecessary deaths,” the Jewish congressman said.
Other pro-Israel Democrats expressed skepticism while supporting Israeli decision makers.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said that Israel is the “ultimate arbiter of its own security” but that “the war in Gaza is in danger of becoming a quagmire,” Axios reported.
One congressional Democrat expressing full support was Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who met with Netanyahu in Israel on Wednesday.
“I strongly support crushing Hamas terrorists and their last strongholds,” the Jewish congressman said. “I fervently back surging humanitarian aid and preventing Hamas from blocking it.”
“We must urgently free the hostages being starved by Hamas, remove Hamas from power and transition to an Arab-led peacekeeping force to bring lasting peace and safety for both innocent Palestinians and Israelis,” he said.
Even as many pro-Israel Democrats seem to be wavering in their ability to continue to support Israeli military actions, the decision by Israel to take control of Gaza City has emboldened critics of Israel, with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) calling it a “red line.”
“It is urgent for the United States—like France, the United Kingdom and Canada—to recognize a Palestinian state,” Khanna wrote. “This must be the position of the Democratic Party.”
Khanna said that his congressional letter urging the Trump administration to recognize a Palestinian state now has 18 signatories, up from 13 earlier in the week.
The expansion of Israeli military control into Gaza City also aroused skepticism from pro-Israel Jewish groups on Friday.
“The profound risks posed by a full military takeover of Gaza City cannot be overlooked,” the American Jewish Committee stated. “AJC shares the deep apprehension expressed by many Israelis, hostage families and Israeli military leaders that the Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision to proceed with a full military takeover of Gaza City could endanger the lives of the remaining hostages and may well lead to substantial casualties among both Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians.”
Democratic Majority for Israel, a group that supports pro-Israel candidates within the Democratic Party, said that it supports a ceasefire deal to release the hostages.
“Pro-Israel Democrats have questions and concerns about the reported escalation of the conflict,” Brian Romick, the group’s president and CEO, stated. “We call on the Trump administration to ensure sufficient humanitarian assistance and exert maximum pressure on Arab states, such as Qatar to force Hamas to accept a ceasefire and free the hostages.”
Leaders of the Reform movement issued a statement on Friday saying that the Gaza City operation “will likely be a death sentence for our hostages.”
“We are deeply distressed that Israel’s security cabinet approved Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to extend Israeli control over the Gaza Strip,” the leaders wrote. “Netanyahu’s assurance that this is only a temporary measure is hard to believe, given the war’s continuation over the past 22 months and the quagmires of previous military occupations by Israel in south Lebanon, and by other nations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam—all of which began with similar assurances.”
