Progressive calls for cease-fire fuel Democratic divisions over Israel

Progressive members of Congress are increasing their calls for a cease-fire and upping pressure on President Biden amid the Israel-Hamas war, highlighting differences within the Democratic Party as the president made a wartime trip overseas to show support for Israel.

While Republicans struggle to elect a Speaker of the House from their ranks, Democrats’ own divisions are on display as some express steadfast support for Israel after Hamas’s attack this month, and others argue Israel should de-escalate its response.

After a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza City reportedly killed hundreds Tuesday, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress, took aim at Biden, warning him that “we will remember where you stood.”

“@POTUS this is what happens when you refuse to facilitate a ceasefire & help de-escalate. Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslims Americans like me,” Tlaib said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

She spoke to protestors who descended on the Capitol on Wednesday to demand an Israel-Hamas cease-fire as lawmakers held the latest round of votes for Speaker.

“To my president, to our president … I want him to know, as a Palestinian American, as also somebody of Muslim faith, I’m not going to forget this,” Tlaib said outside the Capitol. Protestors chanted “cease-fire now” during her speech.

Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, led a multifront attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel in return declared war, unleashing airstrikes on Gaza. The death toll is said to have surpassed 4,200 in the region.

Dozens of House progressives signed a letter last week putting pressure on their party leader to lean more heavily on Israel and ensure Tel Aviv adheres to international law in its response to the Hamas attack.

A group of several House progressives released a statement as Biden headed off for his trip to Israel, calling for the U.S. to “help achieve an immediate ceasefire, or at minimum, a temporary cessation of all hostilities that stops the threats to civilians in Israel and Gaza.”

“Hamas can and must be stopped and the security of Israel must be guaranteed without the killing of thousands more Palestinian and Israeli civilians. There is a different path. In this devastating time, the United States must lead the way forward,” wrote Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and a half-dozen fellow lawmakers.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is leading House progressives with the Ceasefire Now Resolution, urging Biden to call for and facilitate de-escalation of the conflict and to send and facilitate humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Similar pressure from progressives has been noted in the Senate, which on Thursday adopted a unanimous resolution stating support for Israel and condemning Hamas.

Bush told The Hill in a statement that “our government enabling this violence and these blatant war crimes is a failure,” but she stressed that “it’s not just this Administration.”

Bush lamented that the government’s approach across recent decades “does nothing to address the root causes of this violence.”

“So yes, I am disturbed by our government’s willingness to immediately cave to calls for unconditional support and write a blank check for the Israeli military while blatantly ignoring the violence and dehumanization of Palestinian civilians. We will never get closer to peace by failing to address the root of this issue,” Bush said.

Tlaib and Bush were among some progressives who were criticized by fellow Democrats for their statements after the initial attacks on Israel — while others defended the lawmakers.

Democratic strategist Kristen Hawn suggested that congressional Democrats’ ongoing discourse on the issue shows the lawmakers trying to “grapple” with how to support Israel against Hamas’s attack and support non-Hamas Palestinian civilians who are impacted by Israel’s counterattacks.

She noted some in the party are “evolving” their views on the situation as it unfolds.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) initially pointed to reports faulting the Israel Defense Forces for the blast at the al-Ahli hospital and repeated calls for Biden to push for a cease-fire and “end this slaughter.”

Israel and Hamas have swapped blame for the recent explosion — while defense officials told senators at a classified briefing Wednesday that Israel is not responsible.

Omar later acknowledged the U.S. intel assessment but added “it is critical that we have a fully independent investigation to determine conclusively who is responsible for this war crime.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) hit back at Omar, saying “you have been training your outrage on the wrong party. We do know that Hamas’ hatred is the catalyst.”

Speaking in Tel Aviv after the hospital blast and ahead of a possible ground invasion from Israel aimed at taking out the Hamas militant group, Biden cautioned Israel not to make the “mistakes” the U.S. made as it “sought justice” after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, after which the U.S. pursued wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He underscored that “the vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas” and that the militant group “uses innocents … as human shields.”

The president met with Israeli leaders as a planned trip to meet with Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders was called off — but Biden announced an agreement to let humanitarian aid into Gaza through the border with Egypt, and he promised $100 million in U.S. aid to help civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. He said such aid would end if Hamas diverts it.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), one of the lawmakers calling for a cease-fire, told The Hill that Biden did a “good job” on his Israel trip.

But Beth Miller, the political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action — the group associated with the protests at the Capitol on Wednesday — knocked Biden’s trip as “abhorrent” and the administration’s unwavering support for Israel as “beating the drums of war.”

“The fact that President Biden and so many members of Congress are only willing to say that they will offer unwavering support for the Israeli government in this moment — it’s a shameful, shameful stance,” Miller told The Hill.

She lauded House progressives behind Bush’s cease-fire resolution as “bold, courageous, progressive, anti-war voices that are speaking out in the face of political pressure.”

Democratic strategist Eddie Vale said the unfolding crisis in Israel and Gaza is bringing “louder, vocal division” from some in the party into light on the issue. But he suggested that doesn’t necessarily mean Democrats overall are seeing intensifying differences — and that “underneath the surface,” the party may actually find more consensus as it takes stock of how to handle the situation.

Heading into 2024, as Biden campaigns for his reelection to the White House, Vale notes that foreign policy isn’t typically the deciding issue in presidential elections — but that Biden could get a boost from those who are praising his handling of the situation in Israel.

“It really makes his case of having somebody who has experience and knows the players and knows what they’re doing in charge,” Vale said, “versus if [former President Trump] was around shooting random tweets.”

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