Mayor Brandon Johnson cast the tie-breaking vote Wednesday for the City Council’s call for a cease-fire in the ongoing war in Gaza that has killed more than 26,000 people and displaced millions.

The cease-fire resolution received a divided vote, with 23 alderpeople in support and 23 against, and only passed after Johnson weighed in. The vote came after hours of tense debate and seating in the main council chambers was cleared after multiple outbursts from members of the public.

The razor-thin margin indicates the sensitivity and seriousness of the issue for council members, who have for months grappled with how to weigh in on the international crisis that many constituents are deeply affected by. It’s also symbolic of the 11th-hour political jockeying that went late into the evening before the vote.

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls for a cease-fire in Gaza

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The resolution that was passed Wednesday, led by progressive Alds. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd Ward, and Daniel La Spata, 1st Ward, called for a permanent ceasefire, humanitarian assistance, and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”

“We as elected officials have the power to save lives by uplifting a demand that is now shared by many. To be on the right side of history,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said, later adding: “If we are committed to peace and liberation, we have to be committed to peace and liberation for all oppressed people.”

Alds. Debra Silverstein, the council’s lone Jewish member, and Raymond Lopez, 15th Ward, were pushing for a resolution of their own that called solely for the release of all hostages, excluding a call for a cease-fire.

Silverstein, 50th Ward, who spoke in opposition of the cease-fire resolution Wednesday, argued it didn’t call strongly enough for the unconditional release of hostages and would undermine the United States’ veto power at the United Nations Security Council after the U.S. last year opposed a resolution demanding a cease-fire. A statement signed by 23 alderpersons, largely from the council’s more conservative and moderate wings, echoed that concern.

“Chicago, America’s third-largest city, should not vote to strip away President Biden’s control over U.S. foreign policy, especially not as we are inviting him here for the Democratic National Convention,” Silverstein said in opposition Wednesday.

She went on to admonish the Johnson administration for backing the resolution she called “one-sided” and “biased.”

“I don’t understand why there was so much personal, political capital put behind this,” Silverstein said. “It’s time to work on unifying the city instead of dividing it. We could have used you as a unifier here too.”

Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th Ward, who had been on the fence about supporting the resolution, said she decided to vote yes despite the fact that some of her recommended language did not make it into the final version.

“I believe that a durable peace begins with a cease-fire,” Lee said. “I watched the news and see children being pulled from the rubble … my instinct is to help.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson declared his support for a cease-fire last week. Calls for the City Council to also come out in support of a cease-fire had grown to a crescendo this week. Unions announced their support, hundreds of Chicago Public School students walked out of class and filled City Hall, and civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson sat in support alongside progressive alderpersons and advocates ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.

In October, nearly a week after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the City Council passed a controversial resolution sponsored by Silverstein condemning the attack and standing in solidarity with Israel. The debate drew so much public heated pushback that the City Council’s chamber was ordered cleared. The resolution failed to garner unanimous support as some alderpersons decried the lack of recognition of the occupation Palestinian people have endured.

Martin Levine, the former CEO of the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago and a Jewish Voice for Peace member, urged alderpersons to consider the scale of violence that has gone on since.

“Just days after October 7, this council felt the need to go on record condemning the acts of violence, the killing of 1,200 people and the taking of hostages. You recognize the existential meaning of those 1,200 lives,” Levine said. “Now more than 100 days later, many of you seem to ignore the death of more than 26,000 people, most of whom are women and children.”

Jinan Chehade, whose job offer at a law firm was rescinded over comments she made in support of Palestinians, pointed to the thousands of Chicagoans who have demonstrated in the streets and yet “we are still debating whether a cease-fire — the bare minimum, the bare minimum, again — should be called.”

“I ask you to make my sacrifices worth it. To make our sacrifices worth it,” Chehade said, who noted the resolution’s importance as more Palestinians live in Cook County than any other county in the nation.

While members of the public overwhelmingly spoke in support of a cease-fire, one commenter in opposition argued alderpersons should “stick to their jobs of dealing with crime, homelessness, migrants bused to our city, education and budgetary problems of Chicago.”

It was a sentiment several alderpersons echoed, with Lopez saying alderpersons were trying “to pretend that we are international diplomats in this room.”

“At a time when we have so much chaos in our own city, where we are judged … by what we can actually affect, this is a diversion,” Lopez said.

Mariah Woelfel and Tessa Weinberg cover Chicago government and politics for WBEZ.