Don Beyer
D · U.S. House, VA-8 · Tier 4
Tier 4, “Critical / conditions aid”
He has a robust offensive-arms-conditioning record: he cosponsored Block the Bombs, multiple House arms-disapproval resolutions (H.J.Res.69, 83), the McCollum Palestinian children’s-rights bill in the 117th and 118th Congresses — though not its 119th reintroduction — and the Ceasefire Compliance Act, and voted NAY on the April 2024 Israel aid supplemental. He beat a primary challenge from his left in VA-8, 67.6% to 17.6%, from Mo Seifeldein, who runs on a full arms embargo and calls the war a genocide. He continues to support Iron Dome and takes no full arms embargo or anti-Zionist position. Beyer co-led the Stop the Settlements Act (H.R.10642, introduced Oct 1, 2026), which would sanction those who build or expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and ban imports of settlement goods, saying “The continued expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illustrates the contempt Israel’s government has for international law and longstanding U.S. policy.” After settlers attacked Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine during the olive harvest, he wrote on Oct 20, 2026 that “the Netanyahu government's response is unacceptable” and that “Such scenes of violence are frequent amid the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory”; on Oct 21, after Israeli forces detained Brad Lander and other Americans at the harvest, he wrote that the IDF had detained them “simply for participating in the olive harvest. All while turning a blind eye to settler violence against Palestinians there.” He signed the January 2024 Pressley–Raskin letter opposing the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the June 2024 letter backing refugee priority status for Gazans with U.S. citizen or permanent-resident relatives, the October 2024 letter urging sanctions on Israeli ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir over settler violence, the August 2025 Pressley–Pettersen letter urging a surge of infant formula into Gaza, the January 2026 Welch–Khanna letter urging a stronger U.S. response to Israel’s moves to annex the West Bank and the February 2026 Welch–Van Hollen–Castor letter seeking accountability for Israel’s abuse of Palestinian American teenager Mohammed Ibrahim in detention. In 2025 he signed letters to the administration on the detention of student activists Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi. In September 2026 Beyer also signed the Dexter–Ruiz letter seeking the release of Gaza pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from Israeli detention without charge (Sep 8) and a 72-member letter urging Netanyahu to contain settler violence in the West Bank and “halt further settlement approvals” (Sep 24). Beyer signed the 27-member statement led by Jim McGovern explaining the July 15, 2026 Massie Aye, which says existing human rights conditions on US security assistance “have not been meaningfully enforced.” Jewish Insider reported on Oct 23, 2026 that Beyer was among about 30 signers of a draft letter, led by Rep. Ro Khanna and gathering signatures through Nov 6, urging the negotiators of the 2027 defense authorization bill to strip its U.S.-Israel defense-technology cooperation provisions; the draft, which cites Israel’s conduct in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, says “These are not the actions of a government whose defense establishment should be granted deeper access to American military technology, nor rewarded with U.S. defense contracts,” and asks that any framework kept “carry human rights conditions consistent with those governing other United States security assistance.”
Voted NAY on H.R.8034, the April 2024 Israel aid supplemental, and cosponsored Block the Bombs, two House arms-disapproval resolutions (H.J.Res.69 and 83), the McCollum Palestinian children’s-rights bill, and the Ceasefire Compliance Act. One qualifier: his McCollum cosponsorship is to the 117th- and 118th-Congress versions (H.R.2590 and H.R.3103); he has not joined the current H.R.7545, which 29 members have, many of them at Tier 4. A lapsed cosponsorship is weaker evidence of a current position than a live one. That arms-conditioning record, resting on a hard NO vote on the aid package, reaches Tier 4; his continued Iron Dome support and liberal-Zionist framing (no full embargo or anti-Zionist position) keep him there.
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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).