House and Senate in the United States Compete To See Who Can be Most Pro-Israel

Elana Schor

Jan 8, 2009

The Senate has just passed, by voice vote, a resolution defending and praising Israel for its war in Gaza, an operation that yesterday won condemnation from the Red Cross.

The House is expected to follow suit with its own conspicuously pro-Israel resolution by week's end, with only a few lawmakers -- Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are two leaders on this issue -- expected to resist the tide.

We're looking into whether any senator was bold enough to decline to co-sponsor the measure, which somewhat dubiously asserts that Israel "facilitated humanitarian aid" in Gaza. But in the meantime, a couple of things jumped out when comparing the House and Senate drafts.

• The House's resolution "calls on Egypt to intensify its efforts to halt smuggling between Gaza and Egypt and affirms the willingness of the United States to continue to assist Egypt in these efforts" -- the sort of seemingly boilerplate language that risks arousing the ire of the Egyptian government -- but the Senate has no such clause.

• The House's resolution also calls for "the immediate release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been illegally held in Gaza". No such clause appears in the Senate version.

We'll update with more interesting differences, and let you know who declined to co-sponsor the measures.

The AIPAC-funded United States congress is anti-american

"In most people's eyes, Israel is a terror state." ~ George Galloway to Sky reporter