WASHINGTON (AP) – More than half the House Democrats voted Wednesday to strip $3.3 billion in U.S. aid from Israel, the most substantial signal yet that once rock-solid bipartisan support for the country is disintegrating in the aftermath of its war in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians.
The vote tally, 104-314, was not enough to attach the amendment to a broader national security spending bill, but stands as a stark accounting of the shifting attitudes that are dividing the Democratic Party and the nation over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war strategy, now approaching its third year.
The House’s Democratic leadership split over the issue in what was largely seen as a test vote ahead of the U.S. midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. More than 100 Democrats voted for the amendment to strip the foreign military aid money, and almost as many voted against. Most Republicans voted to preserve the Israel aid.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who announced he opposed the measure that would zero out the aid, nevertheless said “that for the good of Israel and the Palestinian people, American policy in the Middle East must change.”
Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues, ahead of a private caucus meeting this week where he spoke on the issue, that he believes “there are more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary when it comes to the far-right Netanyahu government.”
Democrats divided over US support for Israel
The deepening divide over Israel threatens to upend the Democratic Party as it faces an energized left flank that is promoting self-proclaimed democratic socialists in a handful of marquee House races, particularly last month in New York.
While more traditional Democrats have stood with U.S. support for Israel, a growing number have distanced themselves from Netanyahu’s strategy as the war has dragged on in a prolonged response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
The Democratic Whip, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, announced she would support the measure to withhold the funds.
Republicans have seized on the divide to portray Democrats as being overtaken by their more radical far-left elements, even as House Speaker Mike Johnson faces divisions within his own ranks as President Donald Trump’s most ardent America First Republicans lean toward less foreign military spending.
The U.S. Capitol is seen from the Washington Monument, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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