Democrats in the South Florida congressional delegation, all of whom are outspoken supporters of Israel, split over legislation that would force a transfer of U.S. weapons to Israel that President Joe Biden had earlier paused.
Two voted “yes” and two voted “no.”
The issue in question was a move by Republicans who control the House of Representatives to cause political pain for President Joe Biden and other Democrats by highlighting Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war.
Seeking to discourage Israel from its offensive on the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah and avoid the potential for massive casualties among Palestinian civilians, the Biden administration this month put on hold a weapons shipment of 3,500 bombs capable of killing hundreds in populated areas. The stated purpose of the The Israel Security Assistance Support Act was to require delivery of the weapons.
In Congress-speak, the legislation that passed Thursday night was a “messaging” bill, designed to send signals but not to result in any new law or policy.
It had the intended effect: forcing Democrats to cast a vote that opponents could try to use to depict them as less than 100% supportive of Israel if they voted “no” or be used to depict them as repudiating Biden if they voted “yes.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, who voted against the bill, said “it’s all being done to score cheap political points. By now, we’re accustomed to Republicans bringing up nonsensical messaging bills to distract from the fact they blocked vital aid to Israel for six months.”
“Instead of coming together to show bipartisan support for Israel’s defense, Republicans returned to their political playbook cynically exploiting Israel as a political wedge issue,” Wasserman Schultz said during the debate.
She objected to “short-sighted partisan stunts to masquerade as bipartisan support for Israel.
“Stop the games. Israel needs real consistent support, not Republican users who have repeatedly made it clear that Israel cannot count on them.”
Wasserman Schultz, the senior Democrat in the Florida delegation, is the first Jewish woman from Florida elected to Congress. She was part of a congressional delegation in the Middle East when Hamas started the war by attacking Israel on Oct. 7.
South Florida’s other two Jewish members of Congress — U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, and Jared Moskowitz, D-Parkland — voted for the measure.
It passed 224-187, with 16 Democrats voting yes and 184 no. Republicans favored the bill, 208-3.
Frankel, in a brief statement, said she supported sending aid to Israel to support its fight against Hamas.
She said she wanted to “thank President Biden and my colleagues in Congress for the ongoing bipartisan support of Israel’s security; we must now stand by our commitment to Israel and continue to send the vital assistance Congress has promised. Israel’s security is our security.”
Moskowitz, appearing Friday morning on CNN, emphasized that the legislation in question wouldn’t end up doing anything because it won’t get considered in the Senate.
“This bill is dead,” he said. “So we don’t have to worry about this thing. … I don’t have to worry about the issues that I had in there.”
Moskowitz said voting for the bill is an expression of his desire to get a cease-fire, increase humanitarian aid, and secure return of hostages Hamas seized on Oct. 7.
“And the only way we’re gonna do that is to get Hamas to agree to a cease-fire,” he said, adding that without pressure “it’s not going to happen. So that’s why I disagreed with the president (on the weapons pause) because I looked at that as removing pressure from Hamas.”
Moskowitz said this week he also considered the messages being sent to the Jewish community in the United States.
“My community right now is worried,” he said. “Things don’t happen in a vacuum.”
The only other Florida Democrat who voted for the legislation is U.S. Rep. Darren Soto of Orlando, whose reelection has been targeted by the national Republican campaign operation.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-Mc-Cormick, a Democrat who also represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach Counties, voted “no,” and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat who represents parts of South Broward and Miami-Dade County, didn’t vote.
U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Maria Elvira Salazar, both Miami-Dade County Republicans, and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican whose district includes northern Palm Beach County, voted for the measure.
U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, also a Miami-Dade County Republican, didn’t vote.
Diaz-Balart, who is chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, said in a statement that, “the House is standing solidly with Israel as it wages an existential battle against the terrorist state of Iran, and its terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. We must ensure that Israel has what it needs to eradicate Hamas, which vows Israel’s destruction. We simply will not stand by as the Biden Administration pressures Israel to fight for its survival with one hand tied behind its back.”
Chris Eddy, a Weston city commissioner and retired brigadier general in the Air Force Reserves, is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Wasserman Schultz. In a news release Friday, his campaign described the vote as “DWS sides with Biden against Israel. Israel deserves unflinching U.S. support.”
As the war continues, Democrats are increasingly divided. From the left, it has prompted protests, while moderate Democrats have expressed almost unconditional support for Israel.
A total of 26 Democratic members of the House — including Frankel, Moskowitz, Soto and Wasserman Schultz — sent a letter on May 10 to the Biden administration opposing the weapons pause.
Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Post.news.
