U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) was a supporter of an amendment to slash U.S. military financing to Israel, which divided House Democrats yesterday (Wednesday).
Prior to the 104-314 vote — which pitted supporters including House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) against opponents including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) — Beyer voiced support stripping $3.3 billion in support to Israel.
“A military response to the heinous October 7th attacks was justifiable, but Israel’s ongoing campaigns [across] the region have cost the lives of tens of thousands of innocents and isolated Israel on the world stage,” Beyer wrote in a press release.
More than 100 Democrats voted for the amendment to strip the foreign military aid money, and almost as many voted against. Most Republicans voted to preserve the Israel aid.
Beyer called the amendment “imperfectly written” but said that it “serves as a powerful message to the Israeli government.”
“The wanton disregard for the human rights of civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon shown by the Israeli government and security forces, along with their contempt for international and U.S. law and implacable commitment to ever an ever-expanding campaign of settlement and occupation, have made a dramatic course correction in the U.S.-Israeli partnership long overdue,” the congressman said.
Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues, ahead of a private caucus meeting this week where he spoke on the issue, that he believes “there are more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary when it comes to the far-right Netanyahu government.”
Democrats divided over US support for Israel
The deepening divide over Israel threatens to upend the Democratic Party as it faces an energized left flank that is promoting self-proclaimed democratic socialists in a handful of marquee House races, particularly last month in New York.
While more traditional Democrats have stood with U.S. support for Israel, a growing number have distanced themselves from Netanyahu’s strategy as the war has dragged on in a prolonged response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
Republicans have seized on the divide to portray Democrats as being overtaken by their more radical far-left elements, even as House Speaker Mike Johnson faces divisions within his own ranks as President Donald Trump’s most ardent America First Republicans lean toward less foreign military spending.
According to an AP-NORC poll this month, about one-third of U.S. adults — including roughly half of Democrats — believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, an accusation that’s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government.
Amendment pushed forward from Rep. Thomas Massie
The amendment to strip Israel’s foreign aid was offered by Rep. Thomas Massie, the libertarian-leaning Kentucky Republican who lost his own bid for reelection after Trump backed his challenger.
During the floor debate, Massie said the $3.3 billion could be better spent at home on U.S. roads, bridges and veterans’ needs, especially as national deficits are on the rise. He said the American weapons were used on “oftentimes innocent civilians.”
“I think we should stop it — we should put them on a diet,” Massie said.
But Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, himself a former party leader, championed longtime support of Israel and warned against withdrawing U.S. aid.
“I rise in strong opposition to this amendment, which would dangerously undermine American national security,” Hoyer said. He said it would limit the United States’ ability to confront terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, which he said “expressly target American citizens and military personnel.”
Lawmakers under pressure as midterms near
The lawmakers were feeling pressure from all sides as they prepare for midterm elections this fall.
The powerful American-Israel group AIPAC encouraged its supporters to contact members of Congress to register their opposition.
“We must ensure his dangerous amendment is defeated,” AIPAC said in a statement ahead of the vote.
At the same time, the progressive advocacy organization J Street gave lawmakers more leeway to express their views, as Jeffries did, even as the group opposed the amendment as poorly drafted and overly broad.
President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement that J Street recognizes “that, for many Democrats, this is one of the few opportunities to cast a recorded vote expressing opposition to the way American military assistance and American-supplied weapons have been used by the Israeli government in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and elsewhere.”
He said that what unites the majority of Democrats “is far more significant” than this vote as they work to support “the security and rights of both Israelis and Palestinians.”
