A small group of House Democrats — and one conservative Republican — are keeping with their track records of voting against resolutions that declare support for the state of Israel. The lawmakers Thursday voted against a resolution stating that the House condemns Iran’s attack on the Jewish state last week.
In total, 14 House members voted against the resolution — 13 Democrats, many of whom are part of the so-called squad of far-left lawmakers, and Congressman Thomas Massie, who is a conservative Republican of Kentucky.
Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib were just some of the Democrats who voted against the resolution. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement that the Iran resolution is “designed purposefully” to increase the likelihood of war in the region.
“Following last weekend’s unprecedented response by Iran to Israel’s attack on its consulate, the Republican Majority is explicitly leveraging a series of bills to further escalate tensions in the Middle East. This is a blatant attempt to distract from their own incompetence,” the New York lawmaker said.
“The country and the world need real leadership from the House of Representatives in this moment, not resolutions designed purposefully to increase the likelihood of a deadly regional war or worse,” she added.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said in a statement after Iran’s attack that she “condemns” both the attack by the Islamic Republic against civilians as well as Israel’s bombing of an Iranian consulate building in Syria that killed a top Iranian general.
“I condemn the attacks by the Iranian military on Israel, as well as Israel’s military attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria that further escalates tension in the region,” she said. “As leaders in Washington jump to call for war with Iran and rush additional offensive weapons to the Israeli military, we need to exercise restraint.”
This cadre of Democrats, along with Mr. Massie, have consistently voted against pro-Israel House resolutions since the attacks on October 7. Mr. Massie won the scorn of many when he posted a meme online saying that Congress was more Zionist than it was patriotic.
The group is also firmly opposed to any more aid going to the Jewish state, which is expected to come up for a vote — along with aid to Ukraine and Free China — on Saturday.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and her colleagues say that unconditional aid to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government will only lead to more loss of life at Gaza, especially as Mr. Netanyahu is preparing his military for a ground offensive at Rafah to root out the remaining Hamas terrorists sheltering there.
