Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) were among the 16 House Democrats who joined with the Republican caucus in passing a bill today that would reverse President Joe Biden’s decision to pause a weapons shipment to Israel.
Last week, the Biden administration announced that it was halting a planned delivery of heavy bombs to Israel over concerns that they would be used to bombard the Gazan city of Rafah. That decision drew condemnation from Republicans and some strongly pro-Israel Democrats, and led to the creation of the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, the bill which House Republicans brought up for a vote today.
The vote is largely symbolic, since there’s no chance the Democratic-controlled Senate will take it up; Biden has also expressed his strong disapproval of the bill. Still, the fact that Gottheimer, Pallone, and 14 of their fellow Democrats were willing to break so sharply with a president of their own party on the issue is notable in and of itself.
“At this moment, with five American hostages – including my constituent Edan Alexander from Tenafly – forty-four Americans dead, and daily attacks by Iranian-backed terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis, now is the moment to show strength and stand resolutely by our key democratic ally in the fight against terror,” Gottheimer, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said of his vote. “We must do everything we can to free the hostages, especially the Americans, crush the terrorists, and surge humanitarian aid into the region.”
Nearly every House Republican supported the bill, among them New Jersey’s Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), Chris Smith (R-Manchester), and Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis). Five New Jersey Democrats voted against it, while Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) did not cast a vote.
One of the New Jerseyans who voted no was Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), a national security-focused Democrat who said that the bill was a political ploy rather than a good-faith proposal.
“Republicans in Congress are using Israel as a political football with continued legislative stunts to divide the country,” Sherrill said. “As a veteran of the Global War on Terror, I do not support a military invasion of Rafah – instead, I have been advocating for the immediate release of the hostages and a negotiated ceasefire, an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and a path forward toward a two-state solution. H.R. 8369 would achieve none of these goals.”