With the recent legislative elections now behind us, New Jersey legislators returned to the Statehouse this week for the first time since passing the Fiscal Year 2024 budget on June 30.
Officially referred to as the “lame-duck session,” the eight-week period following legislative elections, is usually a chaotic time in Trenton, as lawmakers, especially those leaving office pass a flurry of bills with little oversight and almost no electoral consequences.
On Monday, among the 129 bills introduced on the Assembly side of the aisle, was a resolution sponsored by Assemblyman Sean Kean (R-Wall), which condemns the October 7th terror attacks by Hamas against Israel and reaffirms the state’s “commitment and support of Israel and Jewish people.”
Another resolution, sponsored by Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R-Wyckoff), likewise condemns Hamas and also explicitly supports Israel’s right to exist.
In addition to those two pro-Israel resolutions, a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank was introduced by Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer (D-Montgomery).
Jaffer, who is one of the most progressive members of the New Jersey Legislature, was the first Muslim woman to serve a mayor in the United States when she was elected mayor of Montgomery Township in 2019. She will be leaving the Legislature after the current session ends, after declining to run for re-election this year.
Jaffer also spoke at a rally on Monday outside the Statehouse, where dozens of people demanded a cease-fire.
It is not yet clear if, or when, any of the resolutions will receive a vote on the floor of the Assembly.
State of Israel: “Thanks for Recognizing Our Right To Remain Alive!”
After numerous supporters of the State of Israel recently declared Israel’s right to exist, citizens of the Jewish state issued a joint statement on Tuesday thanking the aforementioned pro-life advocates for “recognizing that Israelis, like all living creatures, have the right to remain alive, to breathe and to survive, and for acknowledging that an abortion procedure that terminates Israel’s existence is cruel and inhumane.”
“Countless progressive intellectuals have insisted that the state of Israel was like an unborn child in the mother’s womb, who, in their view, has no right to life, and consequently has no right to exist,” the joint statement said. “So, when pro-Israeli-life advocates acknowledge that we, the citizens of Israel, do, indeed, have the right to remain alive and to remain in existence, without the threat of being aborted and discarded in the nearby rivers and seas, we appreciate it.”
“We bemoan the aborted existence of countless unborn children,” the statement said, “and we hope the day will come when all the world will recognize the right of the unborn child to continue to live and to exist, and the right of the 75-year old state of Israel to continue to live and to exist, without the threat of being aborted by the evil, pro-choice, pro-Hamas crowd.”
“Once again,” the statement concluded, “we thank all those who recognize that the Israeli people have the right to remain alive, to breathe and to remain in existence, and who acknowledge that an abortion procedure on the state of Israel is incredibly cruel and inhumane.”