Adrian Smith
R · U.S. House, NE-3 · Tier 1/2
Tier 1/2, between “Firmly pro-Israel” and “Mainstream pro-Israel”
Ways and Means Republican who wrote after October 7 that “Israel has every right to use all its means to defend itself” and that the U.S. “should stand ready to provide military assistance such as missiles and artillery” (Oct 2023). In July 2024 he faulted President Biden for having “recklessly lent credence to illegitimate claims against Israel’s right to forcefully recover hostages” and endorsed Netanyahu’s aim of “the complete and unconditional surrender of Hamas”; in September 2025 he said the British, Canadian and Australian recognition of a Palestinian state “sends the wrong signal to our allies and adversaries alike.” He voted for the 2023–24 aid supplementals, H.Res.894, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, H.R.8369 against the 2024 arms pause, ICC sanctions (2024 and 2025) and the September 2026 anti-boycott bill, against the 2025 Greene and 2026 Massie cuts, and was an original cosponsor of the July 2026 bill to replace UNRWA (H.R.9680). In January 2024 he signed the Smith–Manning letter, whose signers “thoroughly reject” South Africa’s “charge of genocide” against Israel.
A 1/2, not a clean 1. The record is reliable pro-Israel voting plus statements defending Israel’s conduct of the war — against the Rafah objections and the 2024 arms pause, dismissing “illegitimate claims” about its hostage-recovery operations, against recognition of a Palestinian state — with no statement of concern for Palestinian civilians, which rules out a flat 2. There is no leadership on the issue: no authored Israel legislation, no caucus leadership and no pro-Israel fundraising brand; his campaign site has no Israel plank. Counter-case: a clean 1 if the July 2024 dismissal of claims against Israel’s hostage operations is read as hardline rhetoric, though it is one line in one column rather than a brand.
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elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).