As the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas rages on, Congress is set to take up measures related to Israel and antisemitism.
The biggest legislation is supplemental assistance to Israel. The Biden administration has requested $14 billion. However, whether the final bill will consist of that amount and if it will be tied to or separate from assistance for Ukraine is to be determined.
As of press time, the text of the supplemental bill has yet to be released.
One piece of legislation is
a resolution “declaring it is the policy of the United States that a nuclear Islamic Republic of Iran is not acceptable.” Iran was allegedly behind the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Iran supports Hamas and Hezbollah, also a U.S.-designated terrorist group that has been attacking Israel during the latest conflict. This measure was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
There is a resolution,
introduced by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), that calls on the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. Currently, the EU considers Hezbollah’s military wing to be a terrorist entity.
Another
resolution, introduced by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), condemns “the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education, which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff.”
This resolution comes amid an uptick in antisemitism on college and university campuses amid the conflict.
Antisemitic Incidents on Campus
Students at George Washington University recently projected anti-Semitic messages onto the school’s library, the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, named for a Jewish couple. The messages, which eventually were shut down by the police, included “Free Palestine From the River to the Sea,” which is a call to annihilate Israel; “Glory to Our Martyrs,” which is a celebration of terrorist groups such as Hamas; and university “President [Ellen] Granberg is Complicit in Genocide in Gaza.”Harvard University student groups released a statement blaming Israel for the latest terrorism by Hamas.
Ryna Workman, then-president of New York University School of Law’s Student Bar Association, wrote a newsletter to fellow students “to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination. Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.”
Additionally, Jewish students were trapped inside the library at Cooper Union in New York as pro-Palestinian and antisemitic protesters were banging on the doors in an apparent attempt to intimidate.
A
bill, introduced by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), would require the secretary of state to submit an annual report “reviewing curriculum, including textbooks, leaflets, pamphlets, magazines, and other instructional materials, used in schools in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority or located in Gaza and controlled by any other entity.” Such materials have come under fire by critics who say that they
teach and further hatred of Israel.
There is a bill,
introduced by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), that would impose sanctions on foreign states and persons supporting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is also a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. It would expire after seven years or 30 days after the president certifies that Hamas or PIJ or their affiliates are no longer subject to sanctions.
Another
bill, introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), would “impose additional sanctions with respect to the importation or facilitation of the importation of petroleum products from Iran, and for other purposes.”
Censure of Lawmakers
Moreover, there are two censure resolutions that could be voted on this week that surround Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Ms. Greene has come under fire for past statements, including a claim that the Rothschilds, a prominent Jewish banking family, were involved in starting California wildfires in-concert with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a remark she made before entering Congress in 2021. The
censure resolution against her was introduced by Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.). It mentions other remarks, including making Holocaust comparisons during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, saying the House’s mask mandate was similar to Jews having been “put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany.”
Ms. Tlaib has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric.
The
censure resolution of Ms. Tlaib, introduced by Ms. Greene, lists examples including Ms. Tlaib saying in September 2022, “You cannot claim to hold progressive values yet back Israel’s apartheid government.” It also cites that in May 2019 during a podcast interview, she said that the Holocaust gave her a “calming feeling.” Ms. Tlaib responded to critics at the time by saying that when she said “calming feeling,” she was referring to the idea that her ancestors provided a “safe haven” for Jews after the Holocaust, and not referring to the Holocaust itself.
Finally, while not on the legislative schedule at the moment, there are other pieces of pro-Israel legislation that have been introduced.
One is a bill, introduced by Mr. Lawler, to revoke federal funding to colleges and universities that fail to sufficiently combat antisemitism on campus. An
identical bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
Another bill, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, also
introduced by Mr. Scott, would codify into law a 2019 executive order that would make the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism the law of the land, and therefore make the definition the standard for combating antisemitism nationwide.
The
IHRA definition is: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Another piece of legislation, introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in May, would prohibit the federal government from contracting with entities that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel.
