Gregory Meeks
D · U.S. House, NY-5 · Tier 2/3
Tier 2/3, between “Mainstream pro-Israel” and “Pro-Israel, critical”
Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (chaired it 2021—23) and a long-standing establishment supporter of the US-Israel relationship. As one of the lawmakers who informally review proposed arms sales before Congress is formally notified, he held up the 2024 F-15 sale to Israel over concerns about its conduct in Gaza, then signed off on it; he voted for the April 2024 aid supplemental, affirms Israel’s right to defend itself, and voted for the 2019 House resolution opposing the BDS movement (H.Res.246). A multilateralist by brand: he backed the 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan (urging Israel to refrain from escalation and Hamas to release hostages), skipped Netanyahu’s 2015 address to Congress, calling the Republican invitation a “breach of decorum” and saying his support for Israel was unchanged, and in August 2020, while seeking the Foreign Affairs chair, backed a measure that would bar Israel from using U.S. military aid to annex parts of the West Bank (Jewish Insider, citing the Times of Israel), though later that month he said “the dollars that we give Israel to defend itself is absolute and unequivocal” and opposed conditioning aid over annexation — diplomatic nuance short of conditioning arms. He marched in the 2025 Israel Day Parade. Backing the Lebanon war-powers resolution (H.Con.Res.108) on Jun 29, 2026, Meeks said the Israeli defense minister’s pledge to destroy all homes in southern Lebanon’s border villages and “follow the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza” was “the language of collective punishment”; on Aug 25 he said “International law is clear that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal” and urged Trump to demand that the E1 settlement plan be halted; and on Sep 16, using the same informal review, he refused to clear the administration’s proposed $2.8 billion sale of 2,000-pound bombs, citing “grave, unresolved concerns about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon” — “I therefore will not clear this sale at this time” — while saying he remains “firmly committed to Israel’s security.” On the third anniversary of October 7 he said “We also recognize the immense suffering, loss, and displacement Palestinian civilians have endured since October 7. Their lives and dignity matter,” alongside “I remain steadfast in my commitment to Israel’s security and its right to protect its people from terrorism” (Oct 7, 2026). On Oct 18, 2026 he condemned “the brutal settler attacks on American photojournalist Heidi Levine, European diplomats, and Palestinian olive harvesters in the West Bank,” said “Prime Minister Netanyahu must act now to stop settler violence” and “The impunity must end,” and pledged that if he holds the Foreign Affairs Committee gavel next Congress, “I will advance the West Bank Violence Prevention Act to impose targeted sanctions on those who commit or support this violence.” He has also cosponsored the U.S.-Israel Defense Partnership Act (H.R.1229), which would deepen U.S.-Israel military cooperation and extend the stockpile of U.S. weapons kept in Israel for its use through 2029, since March 2025.
A 2/3. He is an establishment institutionalist: as the senior Democrat on House Foreign Affairs he signed off on the 2024 F-15 sale to Israel after holding it up over Gaza, voted for the April 2024 aid package and against the July 2026 Massie amendment, and says he remains “firmly committed to Israel’s security and its ability to defend itself.” But on September 16, 2026 he used the same review power to refuse the administration’s $2.8 billion sale of 2,000-pound bombs, citing “grave, unresolved concerns about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon”: “I therefore will not clear this sale at this time.” Around that act sit Nays on both ICC-sanctions bills, his warning that the Israeli defense minister’s pledge to destroy the homes in southern Lebanon’s border villages was “the language of collective punishment,” and his statement that West Bank settlements are illegal under international law. AIPAC’s PAC has sent his campaign $389,138 in the 2026 cycle. Counter-case: a flat 2, since the hold is provisional (the administration can bypass it with an emergency declaration, the AP noted) and his 2024 hold on the F-15 sale ended with his clearing it.
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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).