Divided Minneapolis City Council rebuffs Frey appeal, approves Israel-Hamas resolution

The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution on the Israel-Hamas war that Mayor Jacob Frey pleaded with council members to soften.

Frey, Minneapolis’ only Jewish elected city official, will now consider whether he will veto the resolution, which was approved by nine of the council’s 13 members — enough to override a veto. In remarks to the council, the mayor said he supports a cease-fire and is more than willing to criticize Israeli military actions, but he called the resolution “lopsided” in how it characterized, or omitted, the history of the Jewish people in favor of the history of the Palestinian people.

After the vote, Frey told reporters, “I will be considering my options over the next several days.”

The resolution, a symbolic affair for a city council, calls for a cease-fire, the release of all hostages unjustly held and an end to U.S. military support for Israel. It notes the disproportionate deaths of Palestinians in the Israeli military response to Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7 and allegations that Israel is committing genocide.

Prominent Jewish groups objected to the lack of mention of Israel’s defense against that allegation, as well as the characterization of the history of Israel’s policy toward Palestine without reference to the history of Israel. The country was founded by refugees in the wake of the Holocaust. Saturday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Council Member Linea Palmisano introduced an alternative option Thursday that stripped away many of the contested references and did not call for America to end its military aid to Israel. She said the back-and-forth of attempting to include one group’s history or the other’s was fraught and would continue to sow division. Her option was similar to resolutions passed by several dozen local governments across the nation, including one approved in Hastings earlier this month.

Frey supported Palmisano’s option, but the majority of the council did not.

Their reasons varied; Council Member Katie Cashman noted that Palmisano and other critics failed to formally propose any changes until Wednesday evening; Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, meanwhile, said the resolution that was ultimately approved was the product of meetings with various members of the community.

“It had a broad coalition of voices,” Ellison said. “Even though it appears to be so radical and so forward, it is a resolution that is not without its compromises. The reason the resolution before us reads as lopsided is because this conflict is lopsided. This conflict is devastating.”

A number of groups that have long called for Palestinian rights and been critical of Israel’s expansionist policies into Palestinian territories supported the resolution, including some that include Jews. However, the state’s most prominent voices for Jews — including the Minnesota Rabbinical Association and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas — strongly objected.

Thursday’s 9-3 vote, with one abstention, was identical to one the council took Tuesday, when it met as a committee.

Voting in favor were Council President Elliott Payne, Vice President Aisha Chughtai and Council Members Robin Wonsley, Ellison, Jamal Osman, Cashman, Andrea Jenkins, Jason Chavez and Aurin Chowdhury.

Voting against were Council Members Michael Rainville, LaTrisha Vetaw and Palmisano.

Council Member Emily Koski abstained. She said she supports a cease-fire, increase of humanitarian aid and lasting peace and then said: “That is something I can do without disappointing, angering, triggering, dividing or isolating part of my community or the other, part of the city or the other, by choosing one side or the other here in this room. And that is why I will be abstaining from the vote on any resolutions today.”

Assuming Frey won’t sign the resolution, he could let it stand without his signature — a symbolic objection with no practical effect — or he could veto it. If he were to veto it, the measure would return to the council for members to consider whether to attempt to override the veto. An identical vote to Tuesday’s and Thursday’s votes would override the veto.

Star Tribune staff writer Louis Krauss contributed to this story.