Former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones repeatedly voted against funding Israel’s Iron Dome and other missile defense systems when he last served in Congress — but still claims he’s a “staunch defender” of the Jewish state as his campaign to retake his old congressional seat heats up.
Jones, 37, claims on his campaign website that during his single term repping New York’s 17th Congressional District, he “built a record as a staunch defender of Israel” and “someone who stood up to the extremes in both parties to deliver results for the Lower Hudson Valley.”
Left-wing advocacy groups like the Jewish Democratic Council of America and J Street have also endorsed Jones’ run to unseat Republican freshman Rep. Mike Lawler.
But Jones’ record includes a vote during his first year in office against US funding for both the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems in fiscal year 2022, as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Jones also voted twice against Iron Dome funding in the fiscal year 2023 NDAA: once when it was introduced by the House Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.); and again when it was reconciled with a companion Senate bill.
Jones was joined in voting down the provisions, which provided $108 million and $80 million for the Iron Dome as well as $30 million and $40 million for David’s Sling in those years, by anti-Israel “Squad” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).
Despite opposing the bills, Jones still took credit for introducing some amendments that were included in the final text.
“Mondaire Jones has long proclaimed his strong support for Israel, but when push came to shove, he joined Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in voting against hundreds of millions in funding for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling — critical programs for Israel’s defense,” Lawler campaign spokesman Chris Russell told The Post.
“Every year Mondaire Jones voted to meet our financial commitments to Israel and supported record levels of funding for aid to Israel,” countered Jones campaign spokeswoman Shannon Geison, pointing to the ex-congressman’s votes on massive government funding bills that included the Israel defense funding for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
In September 2021, Jones and 419 other House lawmakers voted to pass a standalone $1 billion supplemental funding bill for the Iron Dome, but the measure never was taken up in the Senate.
“Last September, Mike Lawler voted to cut $1 billion from aid to Israel. Fortunately, Republicans’ legislation was not signed into law thanks to a Democratic majority in the Senate and to President Biden,” Geison went on.
That September 2023 vote was on a long-shot bill that right-wing Republicans pushed as the only alternative they would embrace to pass a stopgap measure on federal funding that would avert a partial government shutdown.
Lawler joined the majority of Republicans in voting for the legislation, but it failed in a 232-198 vote.
The bill’s text did not include any cuts to funding for Israel or the US defense budget, though the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, claimed at the time that it would cut $1 billion in aid to the Jewish state.
“That funding cut would have been devastating to our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel,” Geison disagreed, before promising of Jones: “When he returns to Congress, he will continue to be a strong ally to Israel.”
Jones had also promised to be “a friend to Israel” during his successful 2020 House campaign.
This year, he went a step further and endorsed pro-Israel candidate George Latimer over Bowman in the Democratic primary race for the 16th Congressional District, which comprises parts of the Bronx and Westchester County.
Bowman later lost his primary fight against Latimer.
Reps for J Street, which financed a November 2021 trip to Israel by Jones which included briefings on the significance of the Iron Dome system, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America also did not respond to a request for comment.
