Reps. Jerry Nadler and Brad Schneider introduced a measure denouncing boycotts as “incompatible” with the U.S. stance on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Congress House Dems push resolution to condemn global anti-Israel boycotts ahead of AIPAC

A pair of Jewish Democrats are pushing a new measure to condemn an international boycott campaign aimed at Israel, a chance for much of the party to unify around support for the key U.S. ally after weeks of turmoil on the issue.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) introduced a resolution Thursday that denounces boycotting efforts as “incompatible” with the official U.S. stance on a two-state solution to end the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


In a letter to colleagues Thursday, Nadler and Schneider described the global attempt to economically isolate Israel as an “overly-simplistic and one-sided approach.”

“Its goal is Israel’s elimination, not the criticism of any particular policy of Israel,” they wrote of the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS, which has been cheered by some outside progressive groups.

The resolution comes days before the annual pro-Israel conference by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which claims that two-thirds of Congress attends each year. Top Democrats like caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) will speak at the conference, as well as GOP leaders like Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)

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The language on a two-state solution — which both parties have stuck by for years — is expected to be widely supported in the House. The resolution includes two GOP co-sponsors: Reps. Lee Zeldin of New York and Ann Wagner of Missouri.

House Democrats aren't expected to vote quickly on the resolution, but it is seen as a chance to tout their ties to Israel ahead of this weekend’s AIPAC conference.

Several other Democrats also dropped legislation Thursday intended to support Israel. Engel and Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, along with several Republicans, introduced a bill that would impose sanctions on any foreign governments that support Hamas, a terrorist organization in the Palestinian territory.

But it could also expose a leftward shift within the party, with new members like Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, supporting such boycotts.

Another freshman Democrat, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, has also exposed a rift in the Democratic Caucus on Israel after she repeatedly criticized the political influence of pro-Israel groups. Several of her Jewish colleagues condemned her comments as anti-Semitic and forced a vote on the floor.

President Donald Trump, who has sought to strengthen U.S. ties to Israel during his tenure, took another major step Thursday as he announced that the U.S. would formally recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights.