July 10, 2009

Over Half of House GOP Voted against Aid to Israel, 95% of Dems Support

Listed in: Israel, Other Foreign Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC - Ira N. Forman, CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), released the following statement:

NJDC applauds the Democratic leadership and the 95% of House Democrats for standing by Israel and supporting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. We wish we could say the same for the House Republicans, but they were unable to muster a majority in support of this important aid.

Last night over half of House Republicans voted against $2.2 billion in aid to Israel. Such votes clearly don’t support a strong and secure Israel. The House GOP is continuing a disturbing trend of returning to their isolationist roots and a lack of an enlightened foreign policy. We remember in 2007, 164 House Republicans rebuffed the pro-Israel community and voted against billions in aid to Israel. Here they go again.

Unfortunately, if our entire foreign aid becomes a victim of partisan gamesmanship, it does not bode well for essential U.S. aid to Israel. Let’s hope this pattern does not continue.

Link to yesterday’s vote: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll525.xml