Bill Pascrell, NJ congressman who played balancing act on Israel, dies at 87
Democrat, whose district included ‘Little Ramallah,’ had weathered pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian primary challengers in his 14 terms: ‘I’ve tried to get the communities together’
Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor-in-chief of JTA
JTA — As a 14-term Democrat in northern New Jersey, US Rep. Bill Pascrell represented the “Little Ramallah” neighborhood of Paterson, one of the largest Palestinian-American communities in the country. And yet he managed to remain a pro-Israel stalwart while winning the support of Arab-Americans.
The balancing act that made Pascrell a popular liberal member of Congress could be seen in a statement he issued on October 25, 2023, less than three weeks after Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel.
In that statement, he urged the release of hostages held by Hamas, called the attacks “heinous, unprovoked acts of murder against civilians” and endorsed Israel’s right to defend itself.
At the same time, he implored US President Joe Biden “to prevent greater escalation,” urged “restraint to protect innocent civilian lives of Palestinians and Israelis” and called for “life-saving humanitarian aid to address the cascading regional and global impacts to civilians and refugees.”
“This is essential to building a lasting foundation where Israelis and Palestinians can achieve equal measures of freedom, security, opportunity, and dignity,” said Pascrell in the statement. Days before, he refused to sign on to a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
What some might call complexity, and others a betrayal of one side or the other, was a hallmark of Pascrell’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For his generation of liberal pro-Israel Democrats, including Biden, a nuanced view on the conflict became nearly unsustainable as activists on both sides demanded complete fealty to their cause following October 7, when Hamas led an attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, sparking the war in Gaza.
Pascrell, who died Wednesday at age 87 even as he geared up to run for a 15th term, faced a version of this pushback in 2012. That year, both his primary challenger and Republican opponent, both Jewish, questioned his pro-Israel bona fides.
That June, after a round of redistricting, he faced a primary battle against Rep. Steve Rothman, a Jewish member of the House who had also held office since 1997. Israel featured heavily in the race between the old colleagues, when Pascrell refused to denounce some Arab-American activists who made an issue of Rothman’s considerable pro-Israel record. Some Rothman surrogates accused Pascrell of not showing sufficient support for Israel, as when he signed a 2010 letter criticizing Egypt and Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
In the subsequent general election, he thwarted a lively, long-shot bid to unseat him by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, running as a Republican. Boteach, who bills himself as “America’s rabbi” and writes books with such titles as “Kosher Sex” and “Kosher Jesus,” had tried to paint Pascrell not only as insufficiently pro-Israel but also as insufficiently supportive of Arab aspirations for freedom.
A product of Catholic schools who grew up in a tight-knit Italian-American family, Pascrell taught school while volunteering for the Democratic Party in his native Paterson — a former industrial powerhouse that by the 1960s had fallen on hard times. Before his election to Congress, Pascrell served in the State Assembly and then as the mayor of Paterson. An Army veteran, he championed first responders and boasted of his support for firefighters and law enforcement. Pascrell was no fan of “The Sopranos,” the HBO series about an Italian-American crime family, which often shot scenes in Paterson.
In a statement, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said it “mourns the passing of Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., who was an outspoken pro-Israel leader throughout his career in Congress.”
Before falling ill this summer, Pascrell was campaigning for reelection in November, when he was to face Republican Billy Prempeh of Paterson, whom he had beaten twice before.
Given the deep tensions over the war in Gaza, he could no longer count on Arab-American support this time. Politico reported that many of his Muslim and Arab-American constituents wanted him to take a stronger stance against the war, with some activists saying he “is no longer welcome in their mosques, businesses and homes given his unwavering support for Israel.”
In June, Pascrell defeated a Democratic challenger, Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah, who said the incumbent betrayed his Muslim constituents with his support for Israel.
In response to the criticism, Pascrell told Politico, “I hear and feel powerfully the anguish of our community, and like millions of Americans, I desperately want a permanent end to the fighting as soon as possible and a major flow of humanitarian aid provided by America to protect Palestinians and begin the rebuilding of Gaza.”
Despite the pressure, Pascrell defended his support for Israel and his sympathy for the Palestinian cause. In an interview with a New Jersey blog in January, he noted that he had spoken out about Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but also supported funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system protecting Israel.
“I’ve tried to get the communities together,” he said. “I’ve tried to get the communities to not be angry at one another.”
