House vote on Israel aid exposes Democratic split over U.S. military support

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House vote on Israel aid

Highlights

House Democrats split as Hakeem Jeffries opposes, but Katherine Clark supports, an amendment to remove all U.S. aid to Israel in the defense spending bill.
An AP-NORC poll shows 58 percent of Democratic voters believe the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, up from 45 percent in January 2024.
About one-third of U.S. adults, including roughly half of Democrats, say Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, highlighting increasing political and electoral pressure on Democratic leaders.

House vote sharpens party tensions

As reported by Financial Times, Democratic leaders are publicly diverging over an amendment to the annual defense spending bill that would remove all U.S. aid to Israel, with a vote expected as soon as Wednesday.

Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, says in a letter to colleagues that he plans to oppose the proposal put forward by Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie, but he stops short of urging other Democrats to vote the same way. Jeffries calls the amendment overly broad, arguing that it restricts humanitarian aid and limits Washington's ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups designated by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations.

He says there are more decisive ways to pursue what he describes as urgently needed change in relation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government. But the split inside the caucus is already visible, with House minority whip Katherine Clark backing the amendment even while also describing it as overly broad.

Clark says the status quo is not tenable and argues that the U.S. should not provide what she calls a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law, interests and values. Even if the measure fails to advance in the Republican-controlled Senate, the House vote is set to become a clear test of how far Democratic views on Israel have shifted since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

Polling shows weakening support for Israel

This week's debate unfolds against a backdrop of falling public support for Israel, which for decades benefits from broad bipartisan support in Washington. The continuing war with Hamas drives a marked decline in backing for Israel, especially among Democrats and younger voters.

An AP-NORC poll released last week shows that about one-third of U.S. adults, including roughly half of Democrats, say Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza. The survey also finds that 58 percent of Democratic voters believe the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, up from 45 percent when the same question is asked in January 2024.

At the same time, 62 percent of Democrats say the U.S. is not supportive enough of the Palestinians, compared with 49 percent in 2024. Those figures suggest the vote is not only a legislative fight over defense funding, but also a sign of broader political and electoral pressure facing Democrats as attitudes toward Israel continue to shift.

Our earlier article covered House Republicans advancing the FY2027 State and foreign operations appropriations bill H.R. 8595, which combines spending cuts with continued funding for key security priorities. The measure keeps major security assistance for allies, including $3.3 billion for Israel and support for Indo-Pacific partners such as Taiwan, while also adding tighter restrictions and conditions on certain international and recipient-country funding.

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