{"id":2102845,"date":"2023-11-18T16:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-18T21:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-squad-democrats-and-republican-thomas-massie-united-for-years-in-israel-opposition\/"},"modified":"2023-11-18T16:15:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T21:15:30","slug":"how-squad-democrats-and-republican-thomas-massie-united-for-years-in-israel-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-squad-democrats-and-republican-thomas-massie-united-for-years-in-israel-opposition\/","title":{"rendered":"How &#8216;Squad&#8217; Democrats and Republican Thomas Massie united for years in Israel opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-squad-democrats-and-republican-thomas-massie-united-for-years-in-israel-opposition%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2102845&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Rep. \u200bThomas Massie Faces Criticism for Breaking Ranks with Republican Party on Israel<\/h2>\n<p>Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has been at the center of \u200bcontroversy in recent\u2062 weeks for\u2063 consistently diverging from the Republican Party on votes related to Israel.\u2063 This\u2064 has drawn sharp criticism, particularly following the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on \u2063Oct. 7.<\/p>\n<p>The self-identified libertarian Massie has been aligning himself with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida \u2064Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan\u2064 Omar\u2063 (D-MN), and other pro-Palestinian members of \u2063the\u200d so-called &#8220;Squad&#8221; when it comes to Israel, which has raised eyebrows among his Republican colleagues.<\/p>\n<h3>Breaking Party\u2063 Lines<\/h3>\n<p>In 2019, Massie voted \u200balongside the Squad in opposing a resolution condemning \u200dthe\u200c anti-Zionist Boycott Divestment and \u2064Sanctions \u2064movement, a stance that set him apart\u2064 as the only Republican among the 17 \u200bdissenters in the House.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, Massie once again found himself standing alone in opposition to a House\u200c resolution condemning antisemitism, which passed with an overwhelming 420 votes.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, Massie has aligned himself with progressives on the three most recent bills \u200dfollowing the Israel-Hamas war.<\/p>\n<h3>Controversial\u200d Votes<\/h3>\n<p>On Oct. 25, Massie joined nine \u2064Democrats in opposing a resolution condemning Hamas, despite its overwhelming\u200c passage with 412 \u200bvotes. \u200dMassie justified his opposition by calling the recommendation of sanctions a &#8220;prelude to war.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Massie also\u2062 voted against condemning support of \u2062Hamas and Hezbollah \u200bon college campuses on Nov. \u20632, arguing that &#8220;free speech means protecting speech you\u200b don&#8217;t like, not just speech you do like.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On the same day, he voted against \u200ba $14.3 billion aid package to Israel for \u2062its war in Gaza, questioning why Israel receives more foreign aid than\u2064 any other country \u2062and suggesting it is due to the influence of aggressive lobbyists.<\/p>\n<h3>Facing Backlash<\/h3>\n<p>The\u200c United Democracy Project, a PAC affiliated with the American\u200b Israel\u200b Public Affairs Committee, launched an attack advertisement against Massie, urging his constituents to voice \u2063their complaints by contacting his office.<\/p>\n<p>Massie shared the ad\u2063 and the UDP&#8217;s petition against him on X, reaffirming his stance against foreign aid spending and\u2063 vowing not to vote in favor of\u200c allocating funds to Israel.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t vote to give them your $,&#8221; said Massie on X.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What are some \u200dof the arguments made against Thomas Massie&#8217;s decision \u2064to vote against resolutions expressing support for Israel?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u200bHida Tlaib\u2063 (D-MI), and Ilhan\u200d Omar (D-MN) in voting against resolutions\u2064 that express support for Israel. These resolutions, which are largely non-binding, serve as symbolic \u2062gestures of solidarity with the Israeli government. Massie\u2019s decision to break \u200branks with his\u200d own party \u2064has sparked\u2063 a heated debate \u200bwithin both \u2062the Republican Party and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-jennifer-wexton-will-not-seek-reelection-due-to-new-diagnosis\/\" title=\"Rep. Jennifer Wexton won't run again after new diagnosis.\">larger political landscape<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One of the main\u200d reasons\u200c behind Massie\u2019s divergence from the \u2062Republican Party on this issue is his libertarian \u2063ideology. Libertarians, like \u200cMassie,\u2063 prioritize \u200dindividual freedom and non-interventionism, which often clash with the\u200c interventionist policies typically \u2062associated\u2063 with supporting Israel. For Massie, voting against these resolutions is consistent\u200d with his \u2064broader libertarian beliefs \u200cand his commitment to a non-interventionist foreign policy.<\/p>\n<p>However, Massie\u2019s \u2063stance has drawn criticism from within his own\u200b party. Many Republicans argue that voting against\u200d these resolutions undermines\u2064 Israel and weakens the United States&#8217; relationship with a key \u2063ally \u2064in the Middle East. They argue that supporting Israel is not only necessary for regional\u200b stability but also for the protection\u2062 of U.S. interests\u2064 in the region. Furthermore, they contend\u2063 that expressing solidarity with\u2062 Israel\u2063 is\u2063 a moral imperative, given the country\u2019s unique status as the only democracy in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>Critics of Massie\u2019s position also \u200bargue that his alignment with progressive Democrats\u200b raises questions about his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-byron-donalds-shuts-up-dems-claiming-focus-on-border-security-is-a-white-nationalist-conspiracy\/\" title=\"Rep. Byron Donalds Shuts Up Dems Claiming Focus on Border Security Is a \"White Nationalist Conspiracy\"\">larger political agenda<\/a>. By voting alongside Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Omar, Massie \u200bis seen as endorsing\u2064 their criticisms of the Israeli government, which are often accused of crossing the line into anti-Semitism. \u200bSome argue that Massie\u2019s\u2063 voting record on Israel could\u200d be \u2064a \u200cstrategic move to build political\u2063 alliances and \u2064appeal to\u200d a wider base of voters, including libertarians, progressives, and anti-Israel \u2063activists.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, supporters of Massie argue that his decision \u2064to break\u2062 ranks with the Republican Party on \u200dthis issue\u2063 demonstrates \u200dhis commitment to principle over party loyalty. They argue that Massie\u2019s vote\u2064 should be celebrated as \u200ca sign of independence\u200b and integrity, rather than criticized. They also point\u2062 out\u200d that his position is\u200c consistent \u2064with the libertarian opposition to foreign aid and \u2063military intervention, a stance that he has consistently held throughout his political\u2062 career.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy surrounding \u200bMassie\u2019s\u2064 divergence\u2064 from \u200dthe Republican Party on Israel highlights larger divisions within the party \u2063and the\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bob-casey-says-terminology-used-in-abortion-debate-antiquated-post-dobbs\/\" title=\"Bob Casey deems abortion debate terminology 'outdated' after Dobbs case.\">broader political landscape<\/a>. It \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nascar-criticized-over-apparent-discrimination-in-diversity-internship\/\" title=\"NASCAR faces backlash for alleged diversity internship discrimination.\">raises important\u2064 questions<\/a> about the future of \u200cthe Republican Party, particularly \u200cin relation to\u200c issues of foreign policy and the role of individual\u2063 politicians within the party. It also brings attention to the ongoing debates surrounding U.S. support for Israel and the complexities of navigating \u2062global politics.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, \u2062whether Massie\u2019s actions will have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-squad-democrats-and-republican-thomas-massie-united-for-years-in-israel-opposition\/\" title=\"How 'Squad' Democrats and Republican Thomas Massie united for years in Israel opposition\">long-term \u2064political\u200d consequences remains<\/a> to be seen. \u200cIt is unclear whether his position will gain traction within the Republican \u200bParty or if\u200d it will be seen as an outlier. Regardless,\u200d his \u200ddivergence from the party line on Israel serves as \u200ca reminder of \u2063the \u2062complexities and divisions within American politics, particularly on issues\u2064 related to foreign policy and\u200d international relations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has come under sharp criticism in recent weeks after having consistently stepped out of line with the Republican Party on votes condemning antisemitism and supporting Israel since the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7. The self-identified libertarian Massie has repeatedly joined with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2102846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2102845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2102845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2102846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2102845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2102845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2102845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}