House defeats bid to end military aid to Israel as over 100 Democrats vote for it

The amendment proposed by Republican congressman Thomas Massie to a spending measure would have halted $3.3bn in planned aid – much of which would have gone to Israel’s military. But it was rejected by a 104-314 vote, with 10 lawmakers voting present. Massie was the sole member of the GOP to vote yes.

That the amendment received the backing of 103 House Democrats, or nearly half of the 212-strong caucus, underscored how sentiment in the party towards Israel and the Netanyahu government has soured since the 7 October attack and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, which some international investigations have determined constituted a genocide.

The provision resulted in an unusual split among top House Democrats, with minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and the caucus chair, Pete Aguilar, both saying they would vote against it. In a letter to members, Jeffries called Massie’s amendment “overly broad”, but said he would not formally try to persuade other Democrats to join him in opposition, citing “the strongly held views throughout the caucus in this important area of foreign policy”.

On Wednesday, the House Democratic whip Katherine Clark said she would support Massie’s amendment, saying in a statement “it is clear that the status quo is not tenable.

We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with US law, interests, and values. The Netanyahu government has failed to meet that standard,” added Clark, the second-highest ranking House Democrat.

She was joined by Robert Garcia, the Democratic ranking member on the high-profile oversight committee, who said: “Netanyahu, like Donald Trump, is a corrupt authoritarian who should face criminal courts–not receive billions more for weapons.”

The Congressional Progressive Caucus chair, Greg Casar, on Tuesday sent his members a letter where he announced his support for Massie’s amendment and encouraged them to join him. “The American people are crying out for an end to US tax dollars subsidizing Israel’s military,” Casar said.

The vote came amid signs that voters in some Democratic primaries are looking for candidates who will take a hard line on Israel and Netanyahu’s government and reject American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the powerful lobby that has backed candidates from both parties for decades.

In New York last month, primary voters ousted two sitting Democratic House lawmakers and replaced a third who was retiring with democratic socialists who had put discontent with support for Israel at the center of their campaigns. The trend appeared to repeat in Colorado, where longtime congresswoman Diana DeGette lost her primary to Melat Kiros, a political newcomer who had criticized the incumbent’s previous support for Israel.

The issue was also expected to be a factor in Missouri’s primaries early next month, where freshman representative Wesley Bell faces a challenge from Cori Bush, the former congresswoman he ousted two years ago in a race that saw major spending from Aipac-linked groups. In the race to replace retiring Democratic senator Gary Peters in Michigan, former public health official Abdul El-Sayed has criticized his opponent Haley Stevens for her support of Israel.

Some Democrats who voted for the proposal criticized its phrasing, with Clark noting it would cut off humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, including those in Gaza.

“This is not an attempt to have a serious and necessary debate about offensive military aid to Israel. It’s more stunts from Congressional Republicans who would rather score cheap political points than lead,” Clark said.

The former Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, a longstanding supporter of Israel who two years ago urged Joe Biden to halt weapons transfers amid the war with Gaza, called Massie’s amendment an “unfortunate choice”, but ultimately opted to back it.

“The United States must be a force for security and stability. The American people are rightly demanding an end to a perpetual cycle of war, and the Netanyahu government cannot maintain its current course. Therefore, while this amendment is ill-conceived, I vote yes for the message that it sends,” Pelosi said.

While his group had opposed the amendment as a “political stunt”, Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel and pro-peace group, said the support it picked up among Democrats marks “a turning point”.

“Today’s vote reflects the emerging consensus in the party – the debate will no longer be about whether US policy should change, but rather how it must change,” he said.