Sen. Ted Cruz asserts that Rep. Beto O’Rourke has “the most anti-Israel record of any Senate Democratic candidate.” To back up the claim, he points to one particular vote against funding for Iron Dome, a defense system that lets Israel knock down rockets raining down from Gaza and elsewhere.
The allegation may surface in Tuesday night’s debate in San Antonio, devoted in part to foreign policy.
But Cruz’s allegation is oversimplified.
O’Rourke has voted to fund Iron Dome numerous times, but opposed funding one particular time. And the senator has voted four times himself against larger measures that provided funds for Iron Dome.
In May, Iran fired 20 rockets into the Golan Heights that were intercepted by Iron Dome. Cruz pounced.
“Beto O’Rourke was only one of only eight Members of Congress to vote against crucial funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, joining the ranks of Nation of Islam supporter Rep. Keith Ellison and liberal Rep. Zoe Lofgren,” the campaign said in a prepared statement.
Cruz routinely repeats the allegation at campaign events. “Nancy Pelosi voted yes. Maxine Waters voted yes. Beto O’Rourke voted no,” he said at one recent appearance.
He’s referring to a vote on Aug. 1, 2014, when the House approved $225 million to replenish Iron Dome funding on 395-8 vote, a week after the Senate gave its approval.
