Democrats Split on Israel Aid

PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his wife Sara, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials on the day of the funeral service for late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 28, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

WASHINGTON, July 29 — Support for Israel was once a broadly bipartisan position in Washington. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the war with Iran and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close relationship with Republicans are now eroding Democratic backing and threatening to make the alliance an increasingly partisan issue.

Support for Israel has fallen sharply among Democratic voters. Candidates critical of Israel have won party primaries, while even moderate Democratic lawmakers have become more willing to challenge decades of U.S. policy.

The shift is increasingly visible in Congress.

Nearly half of House Democrats voted this month for an unsuccessful amendment that would have ended aid to Israel. Such a measure would once likely have been rejected by an overwhelming bipartisan majority.

Israel receives $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military assistance and has received billions more in emergency funding in recent years.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and some members of his leadership team opposed the amendment, calling it too broad. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark were among those who supported it.

Democrats are increasingly divided over whether military assistance should continue without changes, be limited to defensive weapons or be stopped entirely.

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he hoped Israel’s October election would help restore bipartisan support in the United States and begin a new period beyond Netanyahu’s leadership.

“New governments get to change direction,” Coons told Reuters.

“Netanyahu has kept Israel at war for years now, partly to avoid the political consequences of his choices,” he added.

Public opinion has also shifted.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted in June found that 48% of U.S. voters and 66% of Democrats believed the United States was too supportive of Israel.

When the university first asked the question in 2017, those figures were 16% among all voters and 20% among Democrats.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said support for Israel remained firmly within the political mainstream despite the debate.

Michigan primary tests Democratic divide

The changing politics surrounding Israel will face a major test in Tuesday’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary in Michigan.

Progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Representative Haley Stevens offer competing views on the U.S.-Israel relationship. The winner will face Republican Mike Rogers in November.

Stevens appeared in a video with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, a major contributor to her campaign.

She argued that a close relationship with Israel produces trade and economic growth and helps protect American freedoms.

El-Sayed, a former public health official, told Fox News that the question was whether American money should be sent to Israel to fund what he called “genocide and apartheid” instead of being invested in American children.

A United Nations inquiry and several human rights organizations have accused Israel of committing genocide through its military campaign in Gaza.

Israel rejects that allegation, saying it is fighting Hamas and taking steps to limit harm to civilians.

Israeli policy has also become an issue in congressional races in New York, Florida and Colorado.

Democratic backing continues to weaken

Tensions between Netanyahu and Democrats deepened 11 years ago when the Israeli leader addressed Congress at the invitation of its Republican majority.

During the speech, Netanyahu criticized an agreement developed by Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration to restrict Iran’s nuclear program.

Criticism of Israel grew after it launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in that attack, and hundreds were taken hostage.

More than 73,000 Palestinians have since been killed, according to Gaza health officials.

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has reshaped Democratic politics, generating opposition among younger voters and widening a generational divide within the party.

Campus protests in 2024 increased pressure on Democrats to reconsider their support for Israel.

Some analysts say President Joe Biden’s refusal to significantly change course contributed to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump later that year.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has also called for Netanyahu’s arrest over alleged war crimes.

During the current primary cycle, several establishment Democratic candidates have lost to more progressive challengers who questioned U.S. support for Israel. Most of those races occurred in heavily Democratic congressional districts.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a progressive pro-Israel organization and rival to AIPAC, said the debate reflected a backlash against Netanyahu’s right-wing government and AIPAC.

He described the combination as a “toxic brew” that had helped turn Israel into a significant dividing issue within the Democratic Party.

AIPAC did not respond to requests for comment.

Shibley Telhami, a University of Maryland professor of government and politics and senior non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, described the shift as a new political framework in which many increasingly view Israel as a villain.

Telhami said some conservative commentators had also criticized Israel, but that the Republican Party would continue supporting it as long as President Trump and evangelical Christian voters remained committed.

Israel becomes an issue in battleground races

The divide is affecting congressional campaigns across the country.

Republican Representative Mike Lawler, whose district outside New York City has a large Jewish population, has used Democrats’ changing views on Israel to criticize his challenger, Cait Conley, in a competitive race that could help determine control of the House.

In southern Florida, Representative Jared Moskowitz, a moderate Democrat who has consistently supported aid to Israel, faces democratic socialist Oliver Larkin in the August 18 primary.

Larkin campaigns on his belief that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and supports immediately suspending U.S. military aid.

Recent polls showed Moskowitz leading Larkin by 32 percentage points.

In Colorado, longtime U.S. Representative Diana DeGette lost the Democratic primary to Ethiopian-born Melat Kiros.

Kiros has called for ending wars by stopping military assistance to Israel, while DeGette supported limiting U.S. assistance to defensive weapons.

Senator Mazie Hirono, who has supported a two-state solution and increased humanitarian aid for Palestinians, said Democrats continued to support Israel’s right to exist but had serious concerns about its leadership.

(Source: Reuters)