Dean Phillips calls ‘Squad’ vote against Israel resolution ‘appalling’

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) called out the House Democrats known as the “Squad” over their vote against a resolution supporting Israel, saying their opposition was “appalling.”

Phillips, a Jewish Democrat who announced his candidacy for presidency last week, has positioned himself as an ardent supporter of Israel, particularly after Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7. On Tuesday, Phillips spoke out against his fellow House Democrats who voted against a recent resolution in support of Israel.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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“It’s deeply disappointing,” Phillips told reporters at a campaign event Monday, according to Fox News. “I’m disappointed that progressives — who look out for the underdog, the diminished and the disenfranchised, those who are being persecuted — to not recognize what just happened on Oct. 7 in such graphic form is really disconcerting and appalling.”

Six of the eight Squad members voted against the resolution — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Summer Lee (D-PA), and Cori Bush (D-MO). The remaining two, Reps. Greg Casar (D-TX) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), voted “present.”

While Phillips expressed his support for Israel, he also stressed that he also stood with the Palestinian community.

“I want to appear in front of the Muslim community around this country, the Palestinian community, the Jewish community,” he said. “I want to subject myself to them, to hear, to understand. To show our common humanity and just like so many other challenging circumstances in America, rather than directing two peoples away from each other, why not unify to what we all actually want, which is peace?”

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Philips continued by saying he was “afraid” that his far-left colleagues are making the effort for peace more difficult but also said his “far-right colleagues making that more difficult by injecting politics into something that should be about people.”

“I know we can do it. I really do,” Phillips said. “But we’ve got to get through this nonsense of division and start returning compassion to both sides, and that is my imperative.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to Phillips for comment.