Congress
In seismic shift, more than 100 House Democrats vote to end Israel aid
Nearly half of House Democrats voted to cut off aid to Israel Wednesday, underscoring a seismic shift in political support for the longtime U.S. ally.
The amendment to a State Department spending bill would have eliminated $3.3 billion in funding, and thanks to strong Republican support for the Jewish state, it failed 314-104. But the vote served as a moment of reckoning for House Democrats who have had to confront years of voter outrage about Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza.
“There’s also a real sense that the status quo cannot continue,” the House’s No. 2 Democrat, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, said in an interview before voting for the amendment.
The vote came after months of contentious primary elections where progressive candidates toppled incumbent after incumbent by publicly eschewing spending from pro-Israel groups and promising to recast America’s relationship with the nation.
The scale of Democratic support for the amendment Wednesday was an acknowledgement of the grassroots fury that has reshaped the political landscape inside the party — a transformation that has rapidly accelerated under President Donald Trump and his close ties to the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Just over two years ago, only 37 House Democrats — mostly on the party’s hard-left flank — voted for a similar bid to crack down on U.S. for Israel.
This time, a much broader swath of Democrats came along — 103 of the 211 members voting Wednesday, plus another 10 who voted “present.”
The supporters included Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the esteemed former speaker, who said in a statement that she reluctantly backed the amendment because Americans “are rightly demanding an end to a perpetual cycle of war, and the Netanyahu government cannot maintain its current course.”
While the amendment in question was introduced by an isolationist Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the vast majority of the support it received on the floor came from a divided Democratic Party.
The split went to the very top.
Clark’s support for the measure broke with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who blasted Massie’s amendment as a poorly constructed effort that could end humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
The still-sizable Democratic opposition plus the “no” votes of 215 Republicans was enough to sink the measure. But even Jeffries and other top Democrats allied with him who rejected the amendment acknowledged this week that the U.S. needs to recalibrate its relationship with Israel.
“I think that’s the goal — making sure that Israel lives up to standards that we have for other countries,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. “That’s appropriate.”
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) voted “present” but said in an interview that he would favor a more carefully targeted effort to end military aid to Israel “and certainly condition even the defensive aid.”
He was torn, he said, because he does not “want to cut off all cooperation with Israel, all support for peace building, civil society, a diplomatic presence, things that support the Palestinian people.”
With scores of members now on the record about their opposition, and a growing contingent of Israel skeptics poised to join the House next term, fractious Israel politics will be an ongoing challenge for Jeffries next term.
The minority leader represents a significant orthodox Jewish community in his Brooklyn congressional district and has touted his strong support for Israel. The amendment episode previewed how he plans to handle the divide.
Jeffries hosted two lengthy private caucus meetings where lawmakers hashed out their disagreements and eventually advised members to “vote their conscience” during a Tuesday meeting. In a “Dear Colleague” letter he said a “meaningful change in direction is needed” especially as a 10-year security assistance agreement signed by former President Barack Obama expires later this year.
Whether his approach will satisfy incoming ultraprogressive members, some of whom have not committed to backing him as leader, remains to be seen. But left-leaning House Democrats celebrated the vote tally — and leadership’s agree-to-disagree tack — as a massive victory.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, urged his colleagues to support the amendment in his own Tuesday letter, saying that the “American people are crying out for an end to US tax dollars subsidizing Israel’s military.”
It wasn’t just progressives, though, who voted for the amendment. In a sign of the omnipresent Israel politics dominating this midterm cycle, the hawkish Rep. Seth Moulton — who is challenging progressive Sen. Ed Markey in Massachusetts — voted also “yes.”
“We simply cannot continue to condone Netanyahu’s actions that are against our moral conscience and our own national security interests,” he said in a statement.
Rep. Lauren Underwood — a leader of House Democrats’ campaign arm who flipped her Illinois seat blue in 2018 — voted for the amendment as well. So did Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, a member of leadership, and Rep. Valarie Foushee of North Carolina, who weathered a primary challenge this term from the left.
“We’ve all grown frustrated with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions,” Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) — who has previously backed Israel aid but voted for the Massie amendment — said. “His actions have really, I think, motivated a lot of the yes votes.”