70 House Democrats and 21 Republicans voted against a bill to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses

• The House passed a bill to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses.
• 70 House Democrats voted against it, including the longest-serving Jewish House Democrat.
• That’s because the bill defines some criticisms of Israel as being antisemitic.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday designed to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses.

The bill sailed through by a 320-91 bipartisan vote, with 70 House Democrats and 21 House Republicans voting against it.

Lawmakers who voted against the bill aren’t necessarily supportive of antisemitism, or opposed to efforts to curb it. Rather, they had issues with the definition of antisemitism that the bill would mandate.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act, led by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York and cosponsored by 61 other lawmakers across both parties, would require the Department of Education to use definitions of antisemitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) when enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

That IHRA definition of antisemitism — alongside obvious instances of antisemitism — encompasses some criticisms commonly made against the State of Israel, including:

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

That’s led to concerns on the part of more progressive lawmakers that free speech norms could be violated, and that anti-Zionism or opposition to Israel could be conflated with antisemitism.

On Wednesday, Rep. Jerry Nadler — the longest-serving Jewish House Democrat — spoke out against the bill on the House floor, arguing that the IHRA’s definitions of antisemitism “may include protected speech in some contexts, particularly with respect to criticism of the State of Israel.”

“Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination,” said Nadler, arguing that the Department of Education already has the ability to investigate discrimination under current law.

The vote took place on Wednesday as college campuses across the country have been swept by pro-Palestinian protests.

“Much of this activity, whether you agree with the sentiments expressed at these protests or not, constitutes legally protected speech,” said Nadler. “Some participants shamefully have exhibited antisemitic conduct, and the Department of Education will rightfully investigate them.”

In December, Nadler also led 92 House Democrats in voting “present” on a GOP-sponsored resolution that equated anti-Zionism with antisemitism. 13 House Democrats voted against the resolution outright.

In an effort to avoid this split, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries asked House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up a separate bill — the Counter Antisemitism Act — which would include establishing a National Coordinator to oversee an Interagency Task Force to Counter Antisemitism in the White House.

Republicans had their own issues with the bill. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said that she would vote against the bill because it “could convict Christians of antisemitism” for believing that Jewish people played a role in the killing of Jesus Christ — a notion that the Catholic Church has refuted since the 1960s.

It’s unclear when — or if — the bill will be taken up in the Senate, where the bill has 30 cosponsors, roughly half of whom are Democrats.

This story will be updated with a list of lawmakers who voted against the bill when it becomes available.