The US House of Representatives rejected a bill last night that would have cut off US aid to Israel. The vote revealed a dramatic shift in the Democratic Party's position: For the first time, more Democratic members of Congress supported the aid cut than opposed it, further evidence of the party's shift away from its past support for Israel.
The bill, which would have cut off the entire US aid package to Israel, some $3.3 billion in security and humanitarian aid, was rejected by a majority of 315 to 104, with ten members of Congress abstaining. All Republicans, except for the bill's initiator, Congressman Thomas Massie, voted against it.
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The vote means that more than half of the Democratic party supported a bill that would have ended aid to Israel.
Many of the lawmakers who supported the proposal made it clear that they did not necessarily support all of its provisions, especially not the cuts in humanitarian aid, but saw the vote as an opportunity to express their opposition to the Israeli government's policies in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, and Lebanon, and to call for a fundamental change in the relationship with Israel.
The Democratic Party leadership was also divided. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his deputy Pete Aguilar voted against the proposal, while the number three in the Democratic leadership, Katherine Clark, supported it.
Clark explained that she voted in favor "not because I agree with all of the provisions of the amendment or with the cynical motives of the Republican who brought it to the vote, but because I believe that we must change direction."
Despite the failure of the bill, the vote is considered one of the clearest signs yet of the political change that the Democratic Party is undergoing. For years, Israel has enjoyed almost overwhelming support from both parties in the US, but this vote illustrates the extent to which the war in Gaza and criticism of the Netanyahu government's policies have changed the discourse within the Democratic camp. This change could also affect the nature of relations between the US and Israel in the coming years.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 16, 2026.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.
