Posted on 11/01/23
| News Source: The Hill
House lawmakers voted Wednesday to torpedo a resolution censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her harsh criticisms of Israel in the wake of Hamas’s deadly attacks last month.
The effort required 23 Republicans, joined by all Democrats, to vote in favor of a procedural motion that blocked the disciplinary resolution from reaching the floor. The final tally was 222 to 186.
The vote was something of a surprise: Tlaib, a staunch liberal who’s been harshly critical of Israel, has few fans in the GOP when it comes to Middle Eastern politics. It’s unclear why several Republicans came to her rescue during Wednesday’s vote.
The censure resolution — sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — had accused Tlaib of “leading an insurrection” for her participation in an anti-war protest last month at the Capitol, organized by Jewish groups, which featured scores of arrests.
Pro-Israel Democrats, who might have been inclined to censure Tlaib’s comments, had hammered Greene for her inaccurate characterization of a peace protest — albeit a rowdy one — and for sensationalizing Tlaib’s role in orchestrating it. They were also leery that Greene’s “insurrectionist” language had trivialized the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Trump.
Wednesday’s vote came as the escalating violence in the Middle East has highlighted the deep rift among Democrats when it comes to Israel, pitting liberal, pro-Palestinian lawmakers like Tlaib — who have accused Tel Aviv of war crimes in its response to the Hamas attacks — against staunch Israel allies, who fear the criticisms of a close U.S. ally will only empower Hamas and invite anti-Semitism.
That schism is expected to take center stage later this week, when the House votes on a GOP-crafted $14.3 billion Israel aid package that includes cuts to IRS funding to pay for the package.
Tlaib, Congress’s only Palestinian American member, has long denounced Israel for its human rights record in Palestine. Those criticisms sharpened with Tel Aviv’s military response to the Hamas attacks, which Palestinian authorities say have killed thousands of civilians in Gaza.