Nearly half of House Democrats vote to end U.S. aid to Israel

In one of life's great ironies, Jewish voters overwhelmingly identify as Democrat. On the other hand, as I fear at the time, Bibi's Gaza program hasn't played well in foreign turf. Below, after the story is some more context from Claude.

Vance says Israel 'losing the battle' for U.S. public opinion

Haaretz Media

July 16, 2026

Nearly half of U.S. House Democrats – including some of Israel's staunchest supporters – voted on Wednesday in favor of halting U.S. aid to Israel. Although the amendment ultimately failed, the vote marked a significant milestone, underscoring how dramatically Israel's standing within the Democratic Party has shifted.

Despite intense lobbying by pro-Israel and Jewish establishment groups against the amendment leading up to the vote, Democratic lawmakers have become increasingly attuned to the role U.S.-Israel policy is playing in primary races across the country, including several recent victories by progressive candidates.

Many House Democrats supported the amendment to signal that unconditional military aid to Israel is no longer acceptable. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – one of the most influential Democrats in the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship – said she would vote in favor of the amendment "for the good of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people."

Meanwhile, Vice President Vance said in an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Wednesday that Israel is "losing the battle" for public opinion in the U.S. He made the remarks while discussing reports of an Israeli influence campaign targeting conservative Americans, as well as the Trump administration's Iran policy.

The political developments came shortly before the U.S. intensified its strikes on Iran overnight into Thursday, reaching areas around the capital, Tehran, for the first time since the latest round of violence began. Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Ministry said Defense Minister Israel Katz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "agreed to continue cooperation between the countries in the face of any possible development" during a phone conversation.

In first, poll shows opposition defeating Netanyahu without Arab parties

The Knesset on Wednesday passed a highly contentious law significantly curtailing the powers of Israel's attorney general. The legislation makes the attorney general's legal opinions nonbinding on the government and authorizes ministers to demand reports on decisions and actions taken in office. Later that day, MK Gilad Kariv, the Israel Bar Association and a slate of civil society groups announced that they had filed petitions with the High Court of Justice challenging the law.

Meanwhile, a Channel 13 poll released on Wednesday found that if the election were held today, Jewish opposition parties would win a majority of Knesset seats, allowing them to defeat Netanyahu and form a government without relying on Arab parties.

Claude's analysis:

Estimates vary somewhat by poll, but here's the general picture:

Party affiliation (post-2024 election polls)

• Democrat: roughly 57–69%

• Republican: roughly 14–24%

• Independent: roughly 15–27%

The Manhattan Institute's late-2024 survey put it at 60% of Jewish voters identifying as Democrats, 23% as Republicans, and 15% as independents, though it noted sharp splits by denomination — Orthodox Jews lean Republican while other Jewish denominations lean overwhelmingly Democratic. The Jewish Electorate Institute's polling found a similar range, with 57% of respondents describing themselves as Democrats, 27% as independents, and 14% as Republicans in an April 2024 survey. Other surveys found identification skewing more Democratic — one AJC-related analysis cited by AEI found 68% identifying as

Democrats or leaning Democratic and 31% as Republicans or leaning Republican, with almost no one identifying as independent in that particular sample. Manhattan Institute + 3

2024 presidential voteJewish voters backed Harris over Trump by a wide margin, though narrower than in 2020. Post-election analysis found Jewish voters backed Biden by a 42-point margin in 2020, while an average of 2024 exit polls found about a 36-point margin for Harris — a swing of roughly 6 points toward Republicans. Commentary Magazine noted the historical pattern holds: Trump got 30% of the Jewish vote in 2020 against Biden, and over the last half-century (since 1968), Jews have favored the Democratic candidate by roughly 71–29%, with Republican winners typically getting close to 30% and Democratic winners 75–80%. Split Ticket + 2

The Jewish Electorate Institute's post-election survey of actual 2024 voters found the current distribution of Jewish voters by party affiliation at 69% Democratic and 24% Republican, and separately noted a religiosity split: 81% of Jews who never attend synagogue services voted for Harris, compared to 61% of those attending more than once a month. JewishelectorateinstituteJewishelectorateinstitute

Bottom line: Jewish voters remain heavily Democratic in both party ID and vote choice, though there's been a modest rightward shift in recent years — most pronounced among Orthodox and Modern Orthodox Jews, who now lean Republican, while Reform, Conservative, and non-affiliated Jews remain strongly Democratic.