Such partnership would 'threaten national security interests'

12 Democrats push for nixing initiative mandating US boost to security ties with Israel

More moderate party leaders forced to decide whether they want to alienate progressives — whose views on Israel are increasingly mainstream — before new Congress even sworn in

By Jacob Magid
  • Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
 Today, 7:35 am
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., speaks during a panel at Crooked Con at the Walter E Washington Convention Center, in Washington, November 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Twelve Democratic senators are calling on their colleagues to vote against several provisions in upcoming legislation that would mandate the expansion of US-Israeli security cooperation.

In a Tuesday letter to congressional leadership led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the lawmakers argued that three provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, (NDAA) mandating the creation of a US-Israel defense technology initiative to boost ties in a series of military and intelligence fields, would “threaten US national security interests by handing Israel leverage over American weapons systems and military technology.”

The letter from the group of largely progressive lawmakers presents a challenge to the party’s more moderate leadership even before Democrats take control of Congress in January, as the NDAA must be passed by the end of the year in order to avoid delays in implementing new defense policies and programs.

But given that Republicans hold control of Congress in the interim, along with the fact that the House already passed the NDAA over the summer, while keeping the provisions in question, the Van Hollen initiative faces an uphill battle.

Still, Democratic leadership will be forced to decide whether it wants to anger progressives — whose criticism of Israel is becoming increasingly mainstream in the party — even before Democrats take over control of both houses of Congress on January 3, 2027.

At that point, the progressive caucus is poised to expand and may cease operating as a more ineffectual minority when it comes to foreign policy, especially as aversion to Israel expands to the top of the Republican Party.

The signatories of the Tuesday letter included several senior lawmakers poised to fill prominent positions when Democrats take over control of both houses of Congress in January.

Among them were Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren and Senate Finance Committee vice chair Patty Murray. They were joined by more moderate Democrats such as Andy Kim, Brian Schatz and Tammy Duckworth. Van Hollen is also considered a dark-horse candidate to become the next Senate majority leader, even though he has not declared his candidacy.

In making their case, the signatories recalled how the US wanted to send Iron Dome batteries to Ukraine in 2022 but was blocked by Israel.

The Iron Dome missile defense system was largely developed by Israel, and Jerusalem has a veto over whether the US can sell the missile defense system to other nations. Israel has blocked transfers to other countries due to fears the sensitive technology could fall into enemy hands. Jerusalem has also adopted a more neutral stance in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The 12 lawmakers didn’t reject the idea of cooperating with Israel in principle but argued that such partnership should not be forced upon the US government.

Adopting the three provisions at this time “would be unwise, especially as the government of Israel continues to pursue policies in Gaza, the West Bank and other parts of the region that are inconsistent with US interests and values,” the letter stated.

Republican AGs from 13 US states threaten retaliation against UK, Netherlands over settlement sanctions

Meanwhile, Republican attorneys general from 13 US states are threatening to retaliate against the United Kingdom and Netherlands over their recently announced sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The top lawyers from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina signed onto a Monday a letter to the British and Dutch ambassadors in Washington that referred to Israel’s settlement policy as an “internal” issue with which other countries have no right to intervene.

“Your anti-Israel sanctions may thus disqualify companies from your nations from contracting with our states, or require our states to divest from your companies, which both deprives your citizens of potentially valuable economic opportunities and deprives our states of potentially valuable goods and services,” the letter stated, urging the UK and Netherlands to walk back the sanctions regimes, which were announced together with 10 other countries.

It appears unlikely that the attorneys general will be able to make good on their threats, due to the increasing unpopularity of Israel and its settlement policy.

Sanctioning other countries would also mean punishing the American businesses that work with them.

While Democrats have been more vocal in their opposition to Israeli settlement policy in particular, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have pointed to the close US relationship to Israel and mounting opposition to the Jewish state as reasons why the Republicans lost the midterms.

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