February 7 • 2019 43
jn
The U.S.-Israel
Relationship
Lawmakers turn to Israel after
long partial shutdown is over.
T
he first order of business on
Capitol Hill after the federal
government reopened after a
month-long partial government shut-
down had to do with Israel.
The U.S. Senate advanced a Middle
East policy bill that codifies assistance
for Israel and protects states that ban
dealings with Israel boycotters.
The Senate voted Jan. 28 74-19 to
advance the bill, introduced earlier
this month by Sen. Marco Rubio,
R-Fla.
It includes language that codifies
into law the $38 billion over a decade
that President Barack Obama pledged
to Israel in the final months of his
term in 2016.
It also adds legal protections to
states that penalize businesses that
comply with the Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions movement targeting
Israel.
The bill’
s other components rein-
force the U.S.-Jordan relationship and
add sanctions on Syria’
s Assad regime.
All four components resurrect bills
that failed to pass in the last Congress.
Some Democrats objected to
the anti-BDS component, saying it
impinges on speech freedoms. “While
I do not support the BDS movement,
we must defend every American’
s
constitutional right to peacefully
engage in political activity,
” Sen.
Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said last week
on Twitter after voting not to advance
the bill.
Among Democrats voting not to
advance the bill were a number of
declared or likely presidential can-
didates, including Sanders, Sherrod
Brown of Ohio, Kirsten Gillibrand
of New York and Elizabeth Warren
of Massachusetts. Kamala Harris of
California and Cory Booker of New
Jersey were absent and did not vote.
Harris told CNN she would likely vote
against the bill because of free speech
concerns with its BDS component.
DEMOCRATS LAUNCH GROUP TO
COUNTER ISRAEL DISENCHANTMENT
In response to the perception that
the Democratic party is drifting away
from Israel, prominent Democrats
announced they are launching a
pro-Israel group to counter the drift.
The Democratic Majority for Israel
will be led by Mark Mellman, a long-
time Democratic Party pollster who
has been active in the pro-Israel com-
munity.
“Our mission at Democratic
Majority for Israel is to strengthen the
pro-Israel tradition of the Democratic
Party, fight for Democratic values and
work within the progressive movement
to advance policies that ensure a strong
U.S.-Israel relationship,
” Mellman said
in a release.
Polls have shown declining support
for Israel among younger Democrats.
This year, for the first time, two
freshmen Democrats, Reps. Ilhan
Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib,
D-Mich., have embraced the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions movement
targeting Israel. Leading Democrats,
including Sen. Bernie Sanders of
Vermont, have robustly criticized
Israel, particularly its treatment of the
Gaza Strip.
Joining Mellman in the group’
s
leadership will be Jennifer Granholm,
former governor of Michigan; Henry
Cisneros, Housing secretary under
President Bill Clinton; Ann Lewis,
chief of communications under
Clinton and a longtime leading
supporter of Hillary Clinton; Todd
Richman, a J.P
. Morgan executive who
is also a major donor to the party; Paul
Begala, a former top Clinton adviser
who has become a leading cable TV
combatant for Democrats; and Shelley
Berkley, a former congresswoman
from Las Vegas. ■
These reports are from JTA.org.
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