Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) on Monday declared his opposition to the proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to block $20 billion in aid to Israel, reportedly calling it “reckless and irresponsible” in a statement.
The senator’s statement came after Sanders introduced legislation that would block a $20 billion arms deal with Israel, which Sanders called “immoral” and “illegal” under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act.
Today, with colleagues, I introduced legislation to block arms sales to Israel.
Sending more weapons to Netanyahu's extremist government is immoral & illegal: U.S. weapons are responsible for far too many civilian casualties in Gaza.
We must end our complicity in this atrocity. pic.twitter.com/IX7Ys5PrBW
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 25, 2024
The proposal led to disavowals from the majority of Democratic senators up for reelection in battleground states, including Casey, reported Jewish Insider on Monday.
“We passed aid to Israel on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, and turning back on that aid would be reckless and irresponsible,” Casey said in a statement, according to the outlet. The senator said he remains “committed to standing with Israel and its right to protect itself,” while simultaneously working “to bring the hostages home and provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
It also came after his political opponent, Republican Senate nominee Dave McCormick, spent the weekend making the case that Casey and Vice President Kamala Harris have failed to adequately support Israel and America’s Jewish community, at both a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Philadelphia and in a Fox News appearance during “Life, Liberty and Levin” on Sunday.
“America needs to stand behind Israel in this fight, and what we have with Biden-Harris and Bob Casey has been weakness,” McCormick told host Mark Levin. “We have also seen weakness at home in the fight against antisemitism.”
Kamala Harris and Bob Casey have failed to stand up for Israel and failed to stand with PA's Jewish Community.
We need leaders who will fight for Israel and against antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/kKXYis8SJm
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) September 30, 2024
The Republican’s weekend politicking comes after Jewish Insider reported last week that McCormick’s efforts to grow his support among Pennsylvania’s Jewish voters is “yielding notable results,” with the outlet finding in interviews that some “disaffected Jewish Democrats” are now willing to back McCormick amid changing political loyalties in the wake of Hamas’ unprovoked attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
A spokesman for Casey’s campaign maintained the Democrat “is the leader on fighting antisemitism in the Senate and is endorsed by AIPAC an other leading Jewish groups.”
Casey is not the only Democrat with a national profile to face accusations of failing to adequately address antisemitism in Pennsylvania, as controversial Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris failed to adequately counter an “antisemitic smear campaign against” Governor Josh Shapiro.
Greenblatt made the remarks in reference to antisemitic attacks allegedly hurled at Shapiro during the period when Harris selected her vice presidential running mate.
Pennsylvania’s governor was reported to be in the short-list of candidates under consideration by Harris, and after the vice president ultimately selected Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, multiple Republicans suggested she was concerned about losing votes from anti-Semites within the Democratic Party.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sen Bob Casey” by Sen. Bob Casey.
