A House amendment to end aid to Israel sharply divided the Democratic caucus on Wednesday with less than half of Democrats voting to continue annual military funding to the Jewish State.
Only 93 of the 212 Democratic lawmakers in the House voted to oppose the amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to end $3.3 billion in assistance to Israel.
The amendment failed 104-314, with 103 Democrats voting to end aid to Israel and 10 voting “present.” Massie was the lone Republican to vote in favor of the measure, with 215 Republicans opposed.
Debate on amendment before the vote largely pitted Democrats against one another, with pro-Israel Democrats accusing their colleagues, who intended to vote in favor of the amendment, of endangering U.S. national security and the lives of Israeli civilians.
“This amendment would embolden the enemies of peace, those pursuing the complete elimination of Israel and those who seek the death of Jews,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). “It is a vote to weaken our ability to engage in the region and it’s a vote against American security, against American interests and against American safety.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had taken Israel “down an ugly path.”
“Israel does not need and quite honestly does not deserve more American money for weapons,” Castro said. “Do not reward a wrongdoer.”
Support for Israel has rapidly become one of the biggest fault lines in Democratic politics, as pro-Israel incumbents have lost a string of primary elections to anti-Israel challengers.
Democrats who voted in favor of the amendment to cut off Israel aid included 15 congressmen who are endorsed by AIPAC as “pro-Israel” candidates or thanked by the pro-Israel group on their endorsement page, including former House speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
One of those endorsees, Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), said after the vote that he was rejecting AIPAC’s endorsement and returning its donations to his campaign.
“I expect groups like AIPAC will not support me in my future elections and frankly, I don’t want their support,” Ryan wrote. “Hardline stances that refuse to stand up to a corrupt and increasingly dangerous Netanyahu regime have no place in our politics.”
Two other AIPAC endorsees, Reps. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) and Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) voted “present” on the amendment.
Other pro-Israel groups that had endorsees who voted to cut off Israel aid included Democratic Majority for Israel and the Jewish Democratic Council of America. (JNS sought comment from AIPAC, DMFI and JDCA.)
Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, stated that the group “applauds House Republicans for unanimously defeating Thomas Massie’s reckless effort to strip all American aid to Israel from the State Department funding bill.”
Under the “strong leadership” of U.S. President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), “America has Israel’s back,” Brooks stated. “Today, the GOP-led House of Representatives proved it.”
Brooks said that Massie is “a voice of one in the Republican Party” and a “lame duck outlier.”
“The Republican majority left no doubt about where our party stands: resolutely with the Jewish state,” he said. “The contrast could not be clearer. In today’s Democratic Party, vociferous hostility to Israel is not the fringe. It is their future.”
“Democrats’ primaries are sending it to Congress, their leaders are indulging it and their base is demanding it,” he added. “Today’s Democratic Party is being shaped in the image of the worst, most radicalized elements of its anti-Israel base, and the Squad’s Hamas caucus is leading the way. Today’s vote reaffirms the longstanding commitment of Republicans to stand unwaveringly with Israel through thick and thin.”
The vote divided Democratic leadership even after Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to colleagues on Tuesday explaining his reasons for voting “no” on the measure. Jeffries said in the letter that he would not whip the vote given the “strongly held views” among Democrats on Israel.
Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), both of whom are endorsed by AIPAC, voted in favor of the amendment, while Jeffries and the two other members of the Democratic leadership team, Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), voted to oppose it.
Massie argued in the debate that he was opposed to all foreign aid, not just aid to Israel, but his subsequent amendment to cut off aid to Jordan revealed the extent to which the Jewish state has become a particular focus of ire among House Democrats.
That amendment failed 421-6, with not a single Democrat voting to cut off military aid to the Arab kingdom.
