Israel anti-boycott bill becomes partisan casualty in first vote of new Senate
Senate Republicans’ first bill in the new Congress draws AIPAC into a partisan political squabble while forcing a Democratic reckoning over the Israel boycott movement.
Republicans’ very first bill in the new Senate is highlighting divisions among Democrats over boycotts of Israel and its West Bank settlements while drawing the traditionally nonpartisan pro-Israel lobby further into a partisan political quagmire.
The Senate failed 56-44 to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to clear a procedural hurdle on the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act, introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Rubio’s legislation consists of four Middle East-related bills that had been held up in the last Congress, including a provision taking aim at the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
All four provisions in Rubio’s package enjoyed significant bipartisan support in the previous Congress. Yet Democrats have refused to move forward with any legislation until Congress passes spending legislation to reopen the government, which has stalled amid disagreements over funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed wall on the US-Mexico border.
Timing the vote in the middle of a partial government shutdown has forced the historically nonpartisan, pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to make one of its most partisan legislative pushes yet.
