
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a Republican-led resolution condemning antisemitism in the United States and globally, CNN reported.
The measure passed by a vote of 311 to 14, but a number of Democrats expressed concern that the language of the resolution is overly broad and would effectively define any criticism of the Israeli government or its policies as antisemitism.
92 Democrats voted “present” and 13 Democrats and one Republican voted against the resolution, according to CNN.
The vote comes as aid to Israel remains stalled in Congress amid Israel’s war against Hamas. There is widespread bipartisan support for aid to Israel, but the issue has become entangled with partisan disputes over other policy priorities, including the US Southern border, putting its passage in question.
The resolution is the latest in a series of pro-Israel resolutions passed by the House since the start of the war against Hamas in October.
In late October, the House of Representatives approved by a majority of 412 to 10 a resolution expressing support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
The resolution was the first one passed by the House after the election of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as its next Speaker.
Last week, the US House of Representatives approved by a majority of 412 to 1 a resolution which affirms Israel’s right to exist.
One of the issues that Democrats had with Tuesday’s resolution is language stating that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler argued that this language “is either intellectually disingenuous or just factually wrong.”
“The authors, if they were at all familiar with Jewish history and culture, should know about Jewish anti-Zionism that was, and is, expressly not antisemitic,” he added.
“Most anti-Zionism, particularly in this moment, has a real antisemitism problem. But we cannot fairly say that one equals the other,” said Nadler.