House states anti-Zionism is Jew-hatred, as 92 Dems vote “present”

Final vote count for H.Res.894, “Strongly condemning and denouncing the drastic rise of antisemitism in the United States and around the world,” which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 5, 2023. Source: C-Span.

by Andrew Bernard

(JNS) — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on Dec. 5 condemning the rise of global antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks, and declaring “clearly and firmly” that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.

Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) — the only two Jewish members of the Republican caucus — introduced the measure, which passed with broad bipartisan support with a vote of 311-14. However, 92 Democrats decided to vote “present.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish and voted “present,” said during a debate on the House floor on Dec. 4 that he couldn’t support the resolution because it had no Democratic co-sponsors and risked conflating opposition to Israeli policy with antisemitism.

“Under this resolution, those who love Israel deeply but criticize some of its policy approaches could be considered anti-Zionist,” Nadler said. “That could make every Democratic Jewish member of this body, because they all criticized the recent Israeli judicial reform package, de facto antisemites.”

The 14 “nay” votes came largely from the so-called “Squad” of left-wing progressives and other frequent critics of Israel. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian who regularly votes against foreign policy legislation, was the lone Republican “nay” vote.

In a statement on the resolution passage, Miller combined the 92 “present” votes with the “nay” ones and said all failed to make a full-throated condemnation of antisemitism.

“Elected leaders must have the courage to condemn and fight all forms of domestic and global antisemitism,” Miller said. “While I am glad this resolution passed the House today, I am disappointed that 106 of my colleagues failed to take this opportunity to condemn antisemitism forcefully.”

In the South, Rep. Connolly of Virginia voted no. Reps. Carter of Louisiana, Clyburn of South Carolina, Ross of North Carolina, and Reps. Johnson, McBath and Williams of Georgia voted Present. Reps. Foushee of North Carolina and Thompson of Mississippi did not vote.