Rep. Ted Deutch accused fellow House Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib of besmirching an ally and engaging in antisemitic remarks after she delivered a condemnation of Israel during a funding debate over Israel’s Iron Dome.
The House voted on Thursday in favor of a stand-alone provision to fund Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system after Democratic leadership was forced to pull it from a broader spending bill after objections from progressives.
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House Democratic leadership introduced a separate funding bill for the Iron Dome after some progressives objected to its inclusion in the stopgap funding bill to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month, imperiling its passage.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib urged Congress to reject the funding bill, calling Israel a “violent apartheid system.”
“I will not support an effort to enable and support war crimes, human rights abuses, and violence,” Tlaib said in remarks on the House floor.
Israel is guilty of “numerous war crimes,” Tlaib said, and Congress should discuss the “Palestinian need for security from Israeli attacks.”
Several of Tlaib’s Democratic colleagues criticized her remarks, including Deutch, from Florida, who said he “cannot allow one of my colleagues to stand on the floor of the House of Representatives and label the Jewish democratic state of Israel an apartheid state.”
Deutch said Congress should support the Iron Dome funding “if you believe in human rights, if you believe in saving lives, Israeli lives, and Palestinian lives.”
Tlaib, Deutch said, “besmirched our ally” and “falsely characterized the state of Israel” in a manner “consistent with those who advocate for the dismantling of the one Jewish state in the world.”
“When there’s no place on the map for one Jewish state, that’s antisemitism,” said Deutch, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, voted against funding the Iron Dome, as did her fellow members of “the Squad,” Reps. Illhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley. Reps. André Carson, Marie Newman, Jesus Garcia, Raul Grijalva, and Cori Bush also voted in opposition, while Rep. Hank Johnson voted present, as did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who changed her vote to present during roll call.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky also voted against the bill, citing his objection to all foreign aid.
My position of “no foreign aid” might sound extreme to some,
but I think it’s extreme to bankrupt our country and put future generations of Americans in hock to our debtors.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 23, 2021
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in remarks on the House Floor that the Iron Dome “has saved thousands of lives,” and she praised “bipartisan and bicameral” support for the defensive system.
House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro said during remarks on the House floor that “the United States is committed to replenishing the Iron Dome so Israel can continue to defend itself from attack and protect its citizens.”
“With the funding in this bill, the Iron Dome would continue to protect millions of civilians,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “Let me repeat: This funding, as the bill language clearly states, is limited to a system that is entirely defensive.”
DeLauro added the United States “has long been committed to the objective of a two-state solution, Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in a lasting peace,” and called the supplemental funding bill “bipartisan and ironclad.”
“It fulfills our moral imperative to protect the lives of innocent civilians and helps build the foundations for peace,” she said.
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In remarks on the House floor, Rep. Steve Womack said that the funding for the Iron Dome “replenishes a defensive system.”
“The Iron Dome has no offensive capability,” Womack said. “Yet there are still members on the Democrat side of the aisle who oppose it,” adding that opposition “delayed proceedings in this very chamber on Tuesday.”
