Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D-GA) vote Wednesday night, with a majority of Senate Democrats, in favor of a resolution to block a shipment of automatic weapons to Israel is fueling renewed frustration with the senator within the Georgia Jewish community, setting back efforts by the senator to repair ties with Jewish voters who objected to similar votes last December.

Ossoff’s relationship with Georgia’s sizable Jewish community could be a critical deciding factor in his reelection campaign next November — with a tight margin of victory expected in the swing state, significant changes in Jewish voting patterns could help decide the election.

The Georgia senator alienated many in the Jewish community by voting in December for two of three resolutions to block aid shipments to Israel. In subsequent months — after a group of Jewish donors expressed support for Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp as a potential challenger — Ossoff reached out to Jewish community leaders and groups to work to repair ties, with some success.

Many leaders said at the time that he was making progress but had more work to do to fully regain their trust. Those efforts hit a stumbling block in June after Ossoff — whose second child had just been born — took nearly a week to comment on the war between Israel and Iran.

Ossoff said, of his votes on Wednesday, that he had voted for the resolution to block the automatic weapons to send a message to the Israeli government objecting to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as due to concerns that the weapons would be provided to police controlled by Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a controversial figure even in pro-Israel circles.

He said he voted against a second resolution blocking a sale of bombs and bomb guidance kits, because those weapons are necessary to strike targets throughout the region attempting to launch missiles and rockets at Israeli civilians. Ossoff had similarly opposed a resolution on bombs and guidance kits in November, while voting for two other resolutions to block other weapons transfers. 

Norman Radow, a major Democratic donor in Georgia who spoke to Ossoff on Wednesday evening after the votes, told Jewish Insider, “I’m disappointed with him and he knows it. And I think he knows that a vast majority of the Jewish community feels the same way.”

Radow said that Ossoff’s justifications for his vote on the assault rifles resolution didn’t hold water for him and his logic was “sophomoric.” The Democratic donor said he’d argued to the senator that Ossoff had overstated the extent of violence in the West Bank and of starvation in Gaza. 

And he said he told the senator that non-binding efforts condemning Hamas and its backers are ineffectual, as compared to the real impacts that cutting off military supplies to Israel would have. 

He indicated he appreciated the senator’s call.

“I’m disappointed in his behavior, but I can’t say it’s a surprise. We’ve seen this before,” Cheryl Dorchinsky, the founder of the grassroots Atlanta Israel Coalition, said. “It’s insane to me that anyone would think that voting against weapons to Israel during a war is a good idea, regardless of who’s in power.”

She said she feels adrift from both political parties. “When people that I see going into politics as having hopefully an interest in doing the right thing fail us as a people, it just kind of breaks my heart,” Dorchinsky said. She argued that Israel should not be a partisan issue, and blamed “bad actors” trying to turn it into one.

“While I wish [Ossoff] would have voted against both of [the resolutions], I’m very pleased he voted against [the one on bombs and bomb guidance kits],” Dov Wilker, who serves as the regional director of the American Jewish Committee in Atlanta, said. Wilker also said he was “disappointed” that the state’s other senator, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), had voted for both of the resolutions.

Another Jewish Democratic donor in Georgia said, “The yes vote with Sanders, who only wants to destroy the U.S.-Israel relationship, is concerning [and] emboldens the terrorists to continue to reject the ceasefire that was agreed to by Israel. It’s exactly what Hamas wants.”

Rabbi Joshua Heller of Atlanta’s Congregation B’nai Torah told JI that, while he does not endorse candidates, he’s heard in conversations that “a lot of folks who had previously been strong supporters of [Ossoff’s] in the Jewish community are not happy about the stands that he has taken.”

Heller said that, in conversations with him about such positions, Ossoff and his staff have highlighted actions he has taken in support of Israel, “and that is true, but every time a vote like this comes around, there is a break in trust and that becomes harder to restore.”

He said that in conversations with Democratic Jewish voters, many onetime Ossoff supporters are “having second thoughts, at this point,” and that there is a real “challenge in his relationship with a lot of folks in the Jewish community right now.”

“No Jewish community is monolithic, but I definitely see a lot of folks in the community who are troubled by this,” Heller said.

Ossoff still maintains supporters in the Jewish community who back his stance on this week’s resolutions.

Beth Sugarman, a prominent J Street member in Georgia, told JI, “The Jewish community has diversity of opinions, but the people I know think Jon Ossoff is thoughtful and represents us well and his statement and split vote was a good reflection of where the community is. The senator’s statement and split vote was thoughtful and exactly what the community believes.”

J Street supported both of the resolutions to block aid.

Cary Levow, a supporter of pro-Israel causes and candidates, said, “I support Senator Ossoff and know of other Jewish Georgians who understand that Jon’s approach to the Gaza humanitarian issue is genuine.” 

“Senator Ossoff has voted for over $20 billion in aid to Israel, has family living in Israel and has spent a significant amount of time in the country,” Levow continued. “I think Jon has represented the Jewish community well and I have zero concern about a senator who is critical of how [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] Bibi is waging this war.”

Larry Auerbach, a Georgia lawyer and Ossoff supporter, said, “Senator Ossoff has done what the vast majority of Georgia’s Jewish community has asked him to do to represent us well by standing up for protecting the Israeli people’s security and saying that the extremists in the Netanyahu administration can’t continue like this.”

National Republicans see Ossoff’s positions as an opening to peel off Jewish voters in the upcoming senatorial election. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has seized on Ossoff’s November votes to block aid to Israel, again slammed him on Wednesday.

“Jon Ossoff is a radical leftist who time and again refuses to stand with Georgia’s Jewish community,” NRSC spokesperson Nick Puglia said in a statement. “He’d rather please the pro-Hamas extremists in his party than stand with Israel and Jewish Georgians. In 2026, voters will send him packing.”

Radow, the Democratic donor, argued that Ossoff’s votes were “bad politics,” though he said he’s not sure any of the current or prospective Republican candidates can beat Ossoff.

“He’s kowtowing to Bernie Sanders — that does not win elections in Georgia,” Radow said. “The only thing that Jon’s got going for him right now is the Republican field of candidates is pretty weak. … I want him to win, and he’s not winning my vote right now, and he’s not going to win a lot of people’s votes supporting Bernie resolutions.”

He said that whether he ultimately supports Ossoff next year will depend in part on which Republican ultimately ends up as the nominee against him.

“It’s certainly going to be an interesting race, and my vote is still up for grabs,” Radow said. “I’m not going to be a knee-jerk Democrat on this issue.”

He urged Ossoff, going forward, not to show public daylight with Israel, “stop playing secretary of state” and keep disputes with the Israeli officials behind closed doors. And he called on the senator to consult with Jewish community members before critical votes like this one, rather than reaching out afterward to explain his votes.

Dorchinsky said that she would “never say never to anything,” when asked if Ossoff could win her support at this point, and that she’ll “be paying attention” and make her final decision when she’s in the voting booth next year.

“He has a responsibility to represent us all, and if he actually started to, I would be thrilled. As of right now, I’m clearly not,” Dorchinsky said.

A Jewish leader in Georgia agreed that a key deciding question for wary Jewish voters will be who the Republican Party nominates to run against Ossoff in 2025.

The leader told JI he thinks that Ossoff’s vote for the assault rifles resolution could help him “thread the needle” more easily than other resolutions and represented a more “considerate” approach, given the Ben-Gvir connection. “I think the majority of American Jews are not fans of Ben-Gvir,” the Jewish leader said.

“I think that if he is consistent with his messaging around the specific nature of why he voted against the assault rifles, I think it’ll help people that are more on the fence with him, but want to vote for him — versus those that are just against him,” the leader said.

But, the leader continued, “that doesn’t mean everyone’s going to buy it,” and noted that many members of the community are unhappy with the vote. 

They  said the vote is particularly “not going to help” Ossoff among Jewish community members upset by his delay in commenting on the Iran war, “but those that were able to give him some grace that he finally said something — this will help them.”

Heller was more skeptical that Ossoff’s vote-splitting approach would satisfy anyone, saying he thinks the strategy won’t help Ossoff with supporters of Israel who don’t believe in stopping weapons shipments nor with opponents of Israel who believe in cutting off all aid to Israel.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) said Thursday that she supported two resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to cut off shipments of assault rifles and bombs and bomb guidance kits to Israel, in a pivot from her previous stances.

Slotkin missed the votes on the resolutions which occurred Wednesday, having spent part of the day taping an episode of “The Late Show with Steven Colbert.” Slotkin’s support brings the total number of Democrats supporting the two resolutions to 28 and 25, respectively. Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a potential future colleague of Slotkin in Michigan’s Senate delegation, also voiced support Wednesday for cutting off offensive weapons to Israel.

“I have struggled with this Joint Resolution of Disapproval more than any previous votes in the nearly two years since Hamas initiated the attacks of October 7,” Slotkin said in a statement. “Had I made it back for the vote yesterday, I would have voted yes to block offensive weapons to Israel based on my concerns over lack of food and medicine getting to civilians in Gaza.”

She said she remains a “strong supporter of the Jewish State of Israel … But despite the fact that Hamas began this bloody round of conflict — and refuses to release the hostages — the images of emaciated children are hard to turn away from. As are the calls from Michiganders who have friends and family trying to survive in Gaza.”

The senator called the resolution votes “a bad way to do foreign policy” and said that it’s the role of the executive branch to set foreign policy and negotiate with other countries, but that the Israeli government believes “there are no limits to what they can do while still receiving U.S. support. And so, I believe a message has to be sent.”

She said her support for future similar resolutions would be determined “on a case-by-case basis,” pending changes to the humanitarian situation. She said she “continue[s] to support the U.S.-Israel security relationship” and defensive weapons sales including missile defense systems.

“While the leaders of Hamas deserve what they’re getting in response to October 7, and Israel — like any other country in the world — has the right to defend itself, that doesn’t include letting children go hungry,” Slotkin continued in the statement. “That is despite Hamas’ sick refusal to relent, prevent further destruction, negotiate in good faith and release the hostages.”

She also argued that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions endanger Israel because they “threaten the longstanding bipartisan consensus that have helped keep Israel safe since its inception,” describing her position as one based on “deep concern and conviction for Israel’s long-term security” and the threats Israel has faced since the day it was founded.

McMorrow, a Democratic Senate candidate running for the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), said on the campaign trail on Wednesday that she supports stopping offensive weapons transfers to Israel.

“The United States has to stop providing Netanyahu with offensive weapons that do nothing but continue to extend this war,” she said.

McMorrow said that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “indefensible” and that “we cannot let [Netanyahu] tell us that what we are seeing with our own eyes is not what is actually happening.”

She also demanded that Hamas release all of the hostages and disarm and that the parties must reach a permanent ceasefire.

“It feels like we’ve lost the humanity in this issue and what is true is that Palestinians deserve security and peace. Israelis deserve security and peace,” McMorrow said. “And the United States, as the most powerful nation in the world, has to do everything in our power and our influence to make it all happen.”

The other Democratic candidates in the race, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), a longtime vocal supporter of Israel, and Abdul El-Sayed, an Israel critic, haven’t responded to requests for comment on the prospect of blocking offensive weapons sales to Israel.

The two other Senate Democrats who missed Wednesday’s votes, Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), both said they would have voted against both resolutions.

Israel is providing weapons to an armed militia opposing Hamas, a defense source confirmed on Thursday.

Following reports in recent weeks that Israel was working with a gang led by Yasser Abu Shabab based in Rafah in southern Gaza, Avigdor Liberman, the former defense minister and current opposition lawmaker, said on Kan radio that “Israel provided assault rifles and light arms to crime families in Gaza, on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s orders … These are the equivalent of ISIS in Gaza.”

Liberman said Israel’s security cabinet was not involved in or informed of the decision to give the Al Shabab clan guns, but the Shin Bet was aware of it. 

“No one can ensure that these weapons will not be turned against Israel,” he added. “We have no way of supervising or following [where they go].” 

Netanyahu’s office did not deny the allegation and responded that “Israel is acting to defeat Hamas in various ways upon the recommendation of the heads of the security establishment.”

Israel is providing the Al Shabab gang with Kalashnikov rifles, some of which were confiscated from Hamas during fighting in the past 20 months. 

Liberman compared giving the Al Shabab militia guns to Netanyahu allowing Qatar to send aid to Gaza, based on an idea that keeping Palestinians divided is better for Israel. 

“The prime minister of Oct. 7 hasn’t learned anything and is still continuing with the same idea that led us to the greatest massacre in the history of the state,” Liberman posted on X. “For years, Netanyahu nurtured Hamas and refused to listen to me when I said that he is severely damaging Israel’s national security.”

“Now he is making the exact same mistake and sending weapons to clans identified with ISIS in Gaza,” Liberman stated.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s office did not respond to Jewish Insider’s request for comment, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declined to comment. Ben-Gvir began his career in political activism opposing the Oslo Accords; one of the Israeli right’s leading slogans against the accords was “don’t give [the Palestinians] guns.”

Hamas posted videos online of its members targeting the militia in Rafah, a city which the IDF controls. Hamas called Abu Shabab “the Israeli Robin Hood” in a social media post on Thursday, and other members of his clan distanced themselves from him. 

Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University, noted on X that Palestinian media have reported on Israeli cooperation with clan-based militias in recent weeks to secure humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The Abu Shabab militia has a few hundred members who came together since the IDF entered Rafah in mid-2024.

Milshtein told JI that he does not know of any ties between ISIS and Yasser Abu Shabab, whose gang he called “psychopaths.”

Yasser Abu Shabab spent years in Hamas prisons, mostly for smuggling, theft and selling drugs, and was freed after Oct. 7, 2023, Milshtein said.