GOP antisemitism resolution passes House, fractures Democrats

The House approved a resolution on Tuesday condemning the “drastic rise of antisemitism” in the U.S. and around the world following Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7 — a vote that fractured Democrats and prompted liberal accusations that Republicans were trying to “weaponize Jewish pain.”

The chamber voted 311-14-92 on the measure, which reaffirms the House’s strong support for the Jewish community across the globe; calls on elected officials and world leaders to condemn antisemitism; rejects all forms of terror, hate, discrimination and harassment against individuals in the Jewish community and “clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

The House approved the resolution despite a last-minute effort by a group of prominent Jewish Democrats urging members of their caucus to vote “present” on the legislation — which 92 did.

Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) issued a statement earlier on Tuesday criticizing the resolution as “the latest unserious attempt by Republicans to weaponize Jewish pain and the serious problem of antisemitism to score cheap political points.”

The coalition argued that the measure was redundant because the House approved a resolution last week affirming Israel’s right to exist as an independent state, while also saying Tuesday’s measure “does not account for the complexity of Judaism itself and ignores nuanced examples such as the Satmar sect, a Hasidic Jewish movement, which remains staunchly anti-Zionist and quite obviously not antisemitic.”

“In order to stop the Majority from playing these political games, we will vote Present, and we urge our colleagues — regardless of their substantive views of the resolution — to do the same,” they added.

The House considered the resolution — led by Rep. David Kustoff (Tenn.) and Max Miller (Ohio), the two Jewish Republicans in the House — after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported a significant increase in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

The organization on Oct. 24 said it recorded a 388 percent increase in reports of harassment, vandalism and assault in the time following Hamas’ offensive compared to the same period last year. The group said of the 312 antisemitism incidents recorded between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23, 190 of them were “directly linked” to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Tuesday's resolution is the latest piece of legislation the House has approved showing solidarity with Israel since the surprise Hamas attack on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. An estimated 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the month since as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas.

Hamas took approximately 240 Israeli hostages during the initial attack, of which more than 100 were released over a seven-day truce.

Last week, the House approved a resolution calling on Hamas to immediately release all hostages. Before that, the chamber cleared resolutions condemning the support of Hamas and Hezbollah on college campuses, and another backing Israel and condemning Hamas.

Laura Kelly contributed.