CROWN HEIGHTS — They want “no” votes and they want them now.
At a large rally in Crown Heights Wednesday night, pro-Israel Brooklyn lawmakers sent a clear message to the borough’s congressional representatives: vote against the nuclear deal with Iran, or else.
“We will not forget! We will not forget!” chanted the crowd outside the Jewish Children’s Museum on Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue, led by state senator Jesse Hamilton, who represents Crown Heights, and Councilman David Greenfield, who represents Borough Park and Midwood.
“Here in our community, we have representatives in Congress and we demand from [them] that they hear our voice and that they vote against a bad deal for America, a bad deal for Israel and a bad deal for the world,” Greenfield said.
“We will do everything in our power to make sure that we protect Israel’s God-given borders,” Hamilton said.
Wednesday night’s rally targeted three members of the House of Representatives in Brooklyn — Yvette Clarke, Nydia Velazquez and Hakeem Jeffries — who have not publicly declared whether they are for or against the deal.
Congress must take up a vote on an agreement between Iran and the U.S. by mid-September. Currently, only 12 Democrats in the House have said they will oppose the deal, far fewer than the 43 or more needed to override a presidential veto, according to a recent count by U.S. News and World Report.
But the daunting math doesn’t deter those calling for more “no” votes from Brooklyn’s reps.
“No one should look at the numbers and say, ‘You know, it’s over,’” said state assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents Borough Park and Midwood, adding, “How much do we care? How important is this?”
Of all of New York’s congressional representatives, only Jerrold Nadler has come out in support of the nuclear deal, according to a recent tally by the New York Observer. Four others — Steve Israel, Eliot Engel, Grace Meng and Daniel Donovan — have said they will vote against it. All others are undecided.
