Politics

Cruz To Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Condemning Anti-Semitism

REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Mike Brest Reporter
Font Size:

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is planning to introduce a bipartisan resolution condemning anti-Semitism Thursday, a source familiar with the legislation told The Daily Caller.

“It’s obvious the resolution was rewritten in part to address the anti-Semitic events of the last few weeks and to make it bipartisan,” said a congressional aide who has seen the new resolution. “There are still references to anti-Semitic boycotts and dual loyalty accusations, but for example there’s also a new reference to attacks on houses of worship that wasn’t in the original resolution. There’s also some new language that seems to be the result of Cruz’s successful push to make the resolution bipartisan.”

The resolution specifically condemns the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement, which seeks to penalize Israel for their treatment of the Palestinian people without seeking justice for any other group. New language was added to the document in recent days after the shooting last weekend at the Chabad synagogue in San Diego, California, which left one woman dead. (RELATED: Rabbi Of Synagogue Where Shooting Occurred Describes Call With Trump)

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 29: Hannah Kaye (LEFT CENTER), daughter of shooting victim Lori Gilbert Kaye, is held by her father Howard Kaye as wounded Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein (CENTER) speaks above the casket during a graveside service on April 29, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 29: Hannah Kaye (LEFT CENTER), daughter of shooting victim Lori Gilbert Kaye, is held by her father Howard Kaye as wounded Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein (CENTER) speaks above the casket during a graveside service on April 29, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The aide also told the Caller that Cruz and his office explicitly marketed the resolution to senators on both sides of the aisle as one meant to supersede politicalization and partisanship.

The Texas senator has been working since March on the resolution, which began in response to the anti-hate resolution that passed the House. That resolution passed with a 407-23 vote, and came in response to comments made by Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, which questioned if some members of Congress have a “dual loyalty” to the United States and Israel. She later doubled down on those comments despite backlash.

The resolution eventually ended up broadly condemning the following: “African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and others.”

Follow Mike on Twitter