Group of US Senate Dems urges block on defense spending bill over clauses deepening Israel ties

A group of US lawmakers is urging fellow Democrats to block military spending legislation until the Senate debates proposals to deepen ties with Israel, highlighting growing unease within the party over support for the country and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

In a letter seen by Reuters and led by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, they urge senators to oppose advancing the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which funds the US Defense Department, until lawmakers can debate measures that would strengthen US-Israel military and intelligence cooperation.

The effort reflects a broader shift among Democrats as support for Israel in the party’s rank-and-file has plummeted, with some lawmakers questioning a US policy that has long enjoyed bipartisan backing.

“As Senate Democrats, we should not be providing votes compelling him [US President Donald Trump] to deepen the US relationship with Netanyahu’s extremist government,” they write in a “Dear Colleague” letter.

Israel’s favorability rating among Democrats fell from 59% in 2018 to 22% in May, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, in linee with other surveys.

The letter is also signed by Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, both of Massachusetts, as well as Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and is one of the leading critics of Israel in the Senate.

Congress is currently drafting this year’s NDAA, which authorizes much of Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion military budget. Versions approved by House and Senate committees include the provisions to deepen US-Israel defense cooperation.

An early version of the fiscal 2027 Intelligence Authorization Act, which is typically attached to the NDAA, would also tighten intelligence ties with Israel, according to the letter.

Some criticism of the Israel-related provisions has been more strident. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat in the US House of Representatives from California who is an outspoken critic of Israel, claimed in a video yesterday that a provision tightening US-Israeli defense tech cooperation “integrates our military with Israel’s military.”

“My highest priority will be to strip this provision from that joint bill,” he said. “We cannot integrate our military with Israel’s and lose our sovereignty.”

In fact, the section in question designates an agent “responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.”