Bobby Scott
D · U.S. House, VA-3 · Tier 2/3
Tier 2/3, between “Mainstream pro-Israel” and “Pro-Israel, critical”
Voted Aye on the July 2026 Massie amendment to strip Israel’s $3.3 billion in military financing — the one vote on his record to cut weapons funding, with no published explanation — after voting for Iron Dome replenishment (2021), the Hamas-financing bill (H.R.340), H.Res.888, the “river to the sea” resolution and the April 2024 aid package (H.R.8034), and against Greene’s 2025 cut to missile-defense aid. In April 2024 he said “Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government cannot continue on their current course,” backed “an immediate ceasefire,” and wrote that “Hamas’ disregard for Palestinian civilian life does not absolve the Israeli government of their responsibilities,” but opened that statement with “I remain supportive of Israel’s right to defend themselves” — the same pairing as his December 2023 concern over “heavy losses of Palestinian civilian lives.” He broke from the pro-Israel line on several frame votes — Present on H.Res.894, Nay on the Antisemitism Awareness Act, H.R.8369, both ICC-sanctions bills and the 2026 anti-boycott bill — and frames the goal as two states and “the safety and dignity of the Israeli and Palestinian people.” He signed the March 2025 letter demanding answers on the detention of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil and, with most House Democrats, the September 2025 letter opposing West Bank annexation. On Lebanon he voted against Rep. Tlaib’s first war-powers resolution as “overly broad” and for H.Con.Res.108, which he cosponsored, saying on June 30, 2026 that U.S. forces should leave hostilities in Lebanon “until Congress provides authorization as required by the Constitution” and that “Congress must reassert its constitutional authority over matters of war and peace.” In June 2026 Scott signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, led by Reps. Becca Balint and Joaquin Castro, on Israel’s operations in southern Lebanon, saying Israel’s “targeted, mass destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure does not constitute Israeli self-defense” and asking that, if U.S.-origin arms were confirmed in those operations, the administration “stop arms transfers being used in these operations until these violations cease”; the letter also affirmed that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”
A 2/3. His Aye on the Massie amendment is a single, unexplained vote against Israel’s military financing, and with his April 2024 criticism of Israel’s conduct, his early backing of a ceasefire and his Nays on the IHRA bill and both ICC-sanctions bills it takes him off a flat 2. He stops short of a flat 3 because the vote is unexplained and his other step on weapons is a co-signed letter (the May 2024 Crow–Deluzio letter, which found “sufficient evidence” that Israel’s aid restrictions violate U.S. law and raised “withholding specific arms transfers”) — no Block the Bombs, Ceasefire Compliance Act or UNRWA cosponsorship — beside Yeas on the April 2024 aid package and the “river to the sea” resolution, and his concern for Palestinian civilians always comes paired with support for Israel’s security or its right to defend itself. Counter-case for a flat 3: a vote to strip all of Israel’s foreign military financing from the bill is a harder act than a cosponsorship.
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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).