Pro-Israel members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are condemning the U.S.-backed proposal for an immediate 21-day cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon. 

The administration’s proposal, negotiated with a variety of international partners, calls for “all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary cease-fire immediately” to “provide space for diplomacy.” and a deal on the Lebanon-Israel border. The announcement from President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron made no mention of Hezbollah.

Israeli leaders have publicly rejected the proposal, though Biden administration officials have suggested that they had agreed privately, before backing out.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told Jewish Insider in a statement he was “admittedly skeptical” of the proposal, suggesting that it wouldn’t address the real underlying problems that have led to the recent violence.

“Is the cease-fire going to disarm Hezbollah in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701, which the international community has never enforced?” Torres said. “Is the cease-fire going to restore the up to 100,000 Israelis who have been displaced from their homes and communities for nearly a year? Is the cease-fire going to relocate Hezbollah south of the Litani River?”

Without directly addressing the proposal, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) urged international pressure on Hezbollah.

“They took over Lebanon and attacked Israel, mostly civilian targets. All Israel wants is for their terrorism to stop,” Landsman said on X. “The global community should also push for Hezbollah to leave and give the Lebanese people their country back.”

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) didn’t directly weigh in on the cease-fire agreement but emphasized the need to support Israel and put a stop to Hezbollah’s attacks.

“Since Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack on October 7, Israel has been continuously attacked by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah — terrorizing the residents of northern Israel and forcing tens of thousands of families to flee their homes,” Rosen told JI. “We must always support Israel’s ability to defend itself, and any solution to this conflict must lead to the end of Hezbollah’s relentless attacks and a return of families to northern Israel.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said that the proposal “made my blood boil.”

“It is unserious to think Hezbollah would not spend 21 days of a cease fire to reload and reposition. Every time Israel defends herself, our leaders cower,” Cramer told JI. “Joe Biden should look to a better example of strength than France. Our administration talks and acts as though Israel is the party in this war with responsibility for it. Israel is fighting for her very existence against an enemy that believes Israel should not exist.”

“How can we expect our friend and ally to rollover to demands by weaklings living across oceans from them who act as though they’re playing with fake bullets?” he asked.

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) accused the administration of undermining Israel.

“The Biden administration made no mention of a ceasefire when Hezbollah was firing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. Now that Israel is striking back, and eliminating terrorists that not only threaten Israel, but the United States as well, the Biden administration is attempting to handcuff Israel’s ability to combat regional terrorism,”  Tenney told JI. “Instead of helping terrorists by hampering Israel, the Biden administration should unequivocally stand with our greatest ally in the Middle East.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said on Thursday that, “The Biden-Harris backed ceasefire plan would only buy time for Hezbollah to regroup. This is a shameful way to treat an ally. Israel has every right to keep Iranian-backed terrorists off of its northern border.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said that the administration has failed to take on the core issues at play.

“The Biden-Harris record of foreign policy failure also includes Lebanon, where the White House has yet to change a failed status quo or meaningfully address Hezbollah, the cancer of the Middle East,” Issa said. “Its rushed efforts of today won’t change events on the ground.”

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) called on the administration to “demonstrate full-throated support for Israel’s defense and their efforts to degrade Iranian-backed terrorists” in a statement to JI.

Some pro-Israel lawmakers are backing the effort, however.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) told Politico that he supports the proposal in concept because “these wars could very well escalate until an all-out war, which is something we have to try to prevent.” But he also emphasized the need for a zone in southern Lebanon clear of Hezbollah control, in order to allow Israelis to return to their homes in the northern part of the country.