Fifty Black Members Of Congress Voted To Send $1Billion To Israel For Its ‘Iron Dome.’ They include: (L-R): Rep. Nikema Williams (Georgia), Dec. 14, 2020, (AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool, File); Rep. Jamaal Bowman (New York), June. 23, 2020,(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) Rep. Val Demings (Florida), July 29, 2020 (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP), and Troy Carter (Louisiana), Jan. 20, 2021 (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte).
Correction: The images that originally accompanied this article incorrectly listed one of the four people photographed as a Congressman who voted on the Iron Dome funding. This has been corrected and updated.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to approve a bill that will provide funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system despite opposition led by progressive freshman Democrat members of the “Squad.” The approval came after the funding was removed from a separate bill to prevent a government shutdown.
A majority of Black House members voted “yes” for the funding.
The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System was specially designed to protect Israel against a range of incoming short-range missiles from Palestine. It intercepts rockets in midair by firing interceptor missiles to destroy them. Established in Israel in 2011, the Iron Dome has since been heavily sponsored by the United States, CNN reported.
Ten Israelis were killed in a nine-day period from May 10-18 when more than 3,440 rockets were fired into Israel during the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis. More than 90 percent of the rockets heading toward populated areas were intercepted by the Iron Dome. About a third fell inside the Gaza Strip. Most of the others fell in open fields, according to the Jewish Virtual Library, which list how many rockets have been fired on Israel since 2011
The Iron Dome funding bill now goes to the U.S. Senate where it’s unclear when it will get a vote.
The final vote was 420-9 with two “present” votes. Eight Democrats and one Republican voted against the bill. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) both voted “present,” Fox News reported.
There were 49 Black Democrats who voted “yes” and two Black Republican Congressmen — Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Burgess Owens (R-UT).
The Democrats included progressives and some members of the so-called Squad.
They are:
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Kweisi Mfume (D-MD)
Bobby Rush (D-IL)
Bobby Scott (D-VA)
Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Danny K. Davis (D-IL)
Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
David Scott (D-GA)
G. K. Butterfield (D-NC)
Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Al Green (D-TX)
Gwen Moore (D-WI
Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
André Carson (D-IN)
Karen Bass (D-CA)
Terri Sewell (D-AL)
Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ)
Joyce Beatty (D- OH)
Steven Horsford (D-NV)
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
Marc Veasey (D-TX)
Robin Kelly ( (D-IL)
Alma Adams (D-NC)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)
Brenda Lawrence (D-MI)
Dwight Evans (D-PA)
Anthony G. Brown (D-MD)
Val Demings (D-FL)
Al Lawson (D-FLD)
Donald McEachin (D-VA)
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
Colin Allred (D-TX)
Antonio Delgado (D-NY)
Jahana Hayes (D-CT)
Lucy McBath (D-GA)
Joe Neguse (D-CO)
Lauren Underwood (D-IL)
Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)
Mondaire Jones (D-NY)
Marilyn Strickland (D-WA)
Ritchie Torres (D-NY)
Nikema Williams (D-GA)
Troy Carter (D-LA)
“The vast majority of the progressive caucus voted to give Israel an extra $1billion in aid for Iron Dome. The Squad was also not united. Bowman voted yes. AOC voted present. The others—Tlaib, Omar and Pressley—voted no,” tweeted Jewish Currents reporter Alex Kane.
Expressing his disappointment in Progressive Squad members, Nick is a Fred Hampton Leftist @SocialistMMA tweeted, “Jamaal Bowman defeated Eliot Engel only to vote just like him on Israel”.
BET Tonight host and Temple University Professor Marc Lamont Hill called out House members who voted “present.” “Voting ‘present’ on the Iron Dome issue is an act of political cowardice. Vote yes or no. Let the people know where you stand. Otherwise it’s just a cynical gesture designed to sustain a radical “brand” while performing the status quo,” he tweeted.
The nine House members, including eight Democrats, who voted against funding for the Israel Iron Dome missile defense system on Thursday include Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Marie Newman (D-Ill.), Raúl Grijalva, (D-Ariz.), Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.), and Thomas Massie (R-Ky).
The latest funding will be on top of $1.6 billion the U.S. provided to Israel in November 2020 for Iron Dome batteries, interceptors, co-production costs and general maintenance, according to Congressional Research Service. Each battery reportedly costs $100 million and each interceptor missile around $50,000, Israel21c reported.
Israel in 2020 ranked for the first time among the top 20 global economies in GDP per capita, despite its economy contracting during the coronavirus, Forbes reported. With the per capita GDP at $43,700, Israel landed in the 19th spot on the list, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. is No. 5 on the list, Germany is No. 16 and the U.K. is No. 22.
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