Rep. Lois Frankel Leaves Progressive Caucus Over Disagreements On Israel

Topline

Longtime Democratic Florida Rep. Lois Frankel, a Jewish progressive representative, quietly split from the House Progressive Caucus over a series of disagreements with the caucus in the wake of Israel’s war with Gaza-based militant group Hamas, multiple outlets reported, as tensions both in Congress and around the U.S. flare as fighting enters its seventh week.

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) left the House Progressive Caucus over disagreements on Israel’s war with … [+] Hamas.

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Key Facts

The split comes as Frankel, a fifth-term Florida Democrat and longtime supporter of Israel, distances herself from caucus members on two key votes in recent weeks, The Intercept first reported.

Frankel was one of 22 House Democrats to join all but four present Republicans to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) earlier this month over controversial remarks, including a video Tlaib posted of protesters chanting the controversial Palestinian rallying cry, “from the river to the sea,” which has been deemed antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League and condemned by critics as a plea for the termination of the Israeli state—Tlaib claimed the phrase is an “aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence” and not “death, destruction or hate.”

Frankel also broke with the caucus earlier this month on a $14.3 billion aid package for Israel, joining Republicans to approve the bill despite widespread Democratic opposition over the funding source of the legislation, which called for that money to be redirected from the Internal Revenue Service, where it had been allocated under President Joe Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act.

Frankel’s name has also been removed from the caucus’ website, despite appearing on the site as recently as last month.

Key Background

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which left approximately 1,200 people dead, and Israel Defense Forces’ invasion of Gaza have sparked massive protests around the world and in the U.S. An estimated 12,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry. Many of the protests have been pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college and university campuses, causing an uproar among university donors and forcing college officials into a heated debate over free speech on campus. Several of those protests have led to students’ arrests. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) last month renounced his membership from the Democratic Socialists of America, after its chapter in New York City came out in support of the Palestinian territories after Hamas’ October 7 attack.

News Peg

A growing number of Democratic lawmakers are pushing for a stop in the conflict, with dozens of House Democrats and two Senate Democrats—Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)—calling for a cease-fire as the death toll in Gaza continues to climb. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed earlier this month to daily pauses in the fighting to allow Gaza residents in the northern part of the territory to flee south. Israeli officials, meanwhile, have been negotiating a deal to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Biden on Tuesday expressed optimism in a deal, saying “we are now very close.”

Tangent

Despite maintaining a rating of nearly 96% from left-wing organization ProgressivePunch, Frankel has separated herself from the Progressive Caucus on foreign policy issues before. In 2017, she expressed support for former President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a momentous decision that reversed nearly seven decades of U.S. policy and drew criticism from a chorus of western leaders who warned the move could spark violence in the region. Frankel called the move “consistent with current U.S. law,” and emphasized: “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people and the State of Israel” (Trump also directed the State Department to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from its location in Tel Aviv).

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