Press Releases

Yesterday, Congressmen Mike Lawler (R-NY-17) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) led a bipartisan letter signed by over 100 of their House of Representatives colleagues slamming the push by the Palestinian Authority to downgrade Israel's status at the United Nations (UN) and offering serious consequences if this were to happen. The letter is endorsed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), FDD Action, Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), and Heritage Action.

"Any downgrade in Israel’s status or standing at the UNGA will result in a corresponding downgrade of U.S. financial, material and political support to the UN," the lawmakers wrote.

"Congress has taken note of the numerous UN actions aimed to delegitimize Israel’s right to self-defense, raising serious questions over the future of U.S. funding to the UN," continued the lawmakers. "We have concluded that the UN is not a neutral party, but one that has definitively taken sides against Israel. We remind you that the U.S. is the largest donor to the UN. Our contributions account for one-third of the body’s collective budget. We will not accept the UN’s ongoing hostility to our ally Israel."

"We must stand against nations and international institutions that are trying every day to undermine Israel," said Congressman Lawler. "This letter lets UN Secretary-General Guterres and the Palestinian Authority know that any action to undermine Israel will have dire consequences. The fact that over a hundred members of Congress from both parties signed onto this letter is a strong testament to our country's broad, bipartisan support for Israel. I hope that the UN will heed this warning and focus its ire on the true aggressors in the region – Hamas and their Iranian backers."

Congressman Lawler has led the charge in the 118th Congress to stand up for Israel and combat the scourge of antisemitism, both domestically and globally. Earlier this year, he and Congressman Moskowitz introduced the Stand With Israel Act. This bipartisan bill will require the withholding of U.S. funding to UN agencies that expel, downgrade, suspend, or otherwise restrict the participation of the State of Israel. Last year, Congressmen Lawler and Gottheimer introduced the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, which will expand existing anti-boycott laws to protects U.S. entities from being coerced into the anti-Israel BDS movement by intergovernmental institutions. That legislation passed the House of Representatives by voice vote in February.

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of the 118th Congressand represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.