House Democratic leaders told members Tuesday to vote their conscience on a controversial amendment that would eliminate U.S. funding for Israel, highlighting growing divisions within the party over America’s relationship with the longtime ally.
The amendment, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is expected to be considered as part of a national security and State Department spending bill scheduled for a House vote this week.
Massie’s proposal would prohibit any funding provided under the legislation from going to Israel while reducing the bill’s overall spending by $3.3 billion.
The issue sparked extensive discussion during a closed-door Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday, where lawmakers debated the party’s approach to Israel and its ongoing relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he was struck by the intensity of the conversation.
“I’ve been around a long time, I’ve never seen it,” Thompson said.
According to Thompson, much of the discussion focused on Netanyahu’s leadership and the increasingly negative views many younger Democratic voters hold toward the Israeli prime minister.
Many of those voters have argued that Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, launched following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, amounts to a campaign of genocide against Palestinians. Congressional Democrats have also expressed serious concerns about Israel’s policies toward Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Thompson said members wrestled with whether Congress should cut off aid to Israel or continue pursuing a diplomatic approach through ongoing engagement.
Public opinion within the Democratic Party has also shifted in recent years. A Pew survey conducted in March and published in April found that 80 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents held an unfavorable view of Israel. That marked an increase from 69 percent in 2025 and 53 percent in 2022.
The survey was conducted shortly after the United States and Israel launched a joint war against Iran.
Pew also found that Democrats younger than 50 were somewhat more likely than older Democrats to hold a very unfavorable opinion of Israel, with 47 percent expressing that view compared with 39 percent among older Democrats.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., described the caucus discussion as “all over the place.”
Nadler said he opposes Massie’s amendment, arguing it is “poorly drafted” and would eliminate funding for U.S. embassy operations in Israel along with other unintended consequences.
Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., echoed those concerns, calling the proposal an “overly broad amendment” that was not written well.
Despite the disagreement, Jacobs characterized the caucus discussion as thoughtful and emphasized that members respected each other’s differing positions.
“We all agreed that, however people vote, we’re all on the same team, and there are reasonable, sorts of reasons, that people vote on all sorts of things,” Jacobs said.
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., also described the meeting as civil, saying there was no yelling and that “people were very cogent.”
Massie’s amendment targets the $3.3 billion in security assistance provided to Israel under a U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Barack Obama in 2016. The agreement covers assistance from 2019 through 2028 and also provides $500 million for cooperative missile defense.
The amendment is widely expected to fail because it is unlikely to receive significant Republican support. Most Republicans have consistently expressed strong backing for Israel.
Still, the vote is expected to spotlight the growing divide between progressive Democrats who have become increasingly critical of Israel and more centrist Democrats who continue to support U.S. assistance.
That divide has also surfaced in recent elections.
Last week, five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., who had voted in favor of U.S. military aid to Israel, lost his primary to democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier, an outspoken critic of Israel who received support from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
During the previous election cycle, pro-Israel Rep. Wesley Bell, D., defeated former Rep. Cory Bush, D-Mo., with backing from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., acknowledged that members hold “strong positions” on Israel but said Democrats remain focused on opposing President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.
Progressive Reps. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have both endorsed Massie’s amendment.
Casar argued that the Israeli government committed war crimes in Gaza and helped draw the United States into war with Iran, saying Americans should not continue financing weapons for Netanyahu’s government. He also acknowledged the amendment could eliminate both military assistance and some diplomatic funding but said stopping the billions in military aid was the most important objective.
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