More than 100 House Democrats voted on Wednesday to cut $3.3 billion in security assistance to Israel, a move that highlights a growing divide within the party over one of Washington's most entrenched policy positions.
The amendment, offered by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, would have eliminated the funding from a state department appropriations bill.
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It failed 314-104, but the 103 Democratic votes in favor represented nearly half the caucus.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had urged Democrats to reject the amendment, but his own second-in-command, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, broke ranks and voted for it.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi also supported the measure, calling it “ill-conceived” but saying she backed it “for the message that it sends.”
The vote exposed a rift that can no longer be managed behind closed doors.
Republican leaders allowed the amendment to the floor, a move seen as forcing politically uncomfortable votes for Democrats ahead of the midterms.
However, it also put every GOP member except Massie on record supporting continued aid to Israel, a country accused of genocide in Gaza and of expanding settlements in the West Bank.
Public opinion on unconditional aid has shifted markedly.
A recent poll by the Institute for Global Affairs found that only 16% of US adults think unrestricted aid to Israel should continue, dropping to 9% among adults under 30 from both parties.
Growing Republican Criticism
JD Vance recently spent hours on Joe Rogan's podcast accusing unnamed figures “within Israel's system” of undermining his diplomacy with Iran.
