Jim Costa
D · U.S. House, CA-21 · Tier 1/2
Tier 1/2, between “Firmly pro-Israel” and “Mainstream pro-Israel”
Foreign Affairs Democrat whose Israel votes sit at the pro-Israel end of his caucus: he voted to censure Rashida Tlaib (Nov 2023), for the Republican standalone aid bill H.R.7217 (Feb 2024), to bar the State Department from citing Gaza Health Ministry casualty figures (Jun 2024), against the July 2026 Massie amendment to strip Israel’s military financing and for the September 2026 college anti-boycott bill, though he voted against H.R.8369 and the 2024 ICC-sanctions bill; he did not vote on the 2025 ICC-sanctions bill but signed the January 2025 Vindman–Schneider letter urging the ICC to rescind its warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. On October 7, 2023 he said the U.S. “must be prepared to provide additional military and economic resources so that Israel can successfully defend itself”; after the World Central Kitchen killings he called for “an immediate ceasefire,” adding “As our ally, Israel must do its part” (Apr 2024). On the war’s second anniversary he wrote that it had “claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, with over a third being innocent women and children” and that “More humanitarian aid must reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza who have nothing to do with Hamas” (Oct 2025). On the third anniversary he again mourned “the Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza, including so many children,” wrote that “we cannot lose sight of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the need for a lasting political solution” and, in the same statement, pledged to “stand firmly against terrorism and those who threaten the security of Israel” (Oct 2026). In January 2024 he signed the Smith–Manning letter, whose signers “thoroughly reject” South Africa’s “charge of genocide” against Israel, and later that year letters urging Speaker Johnson to bring the Senate’s aid package, with its aid to Israel, to an immediate vote (April), asking the Treasury and State Departments to designate and sanction UNRWA staff who took part in the October 7 attacks (May) and seeking a classified briefing on Iranian influence in anti-Israel protests (July); in September 2025 he joined most House Democrats on the Schneider–Raskin letter opposing unilateral annexation of the West Bank.
A 1/2, not a clean 1. He has written no Israel legislation, so there is no leadership on the issue. His acts sit at the pro-Israel end of his caucus: he voted to bar the State Department from citing Gaza Health Ministry casualty figures (Jun 2024), to censure Rashida Tlaib, for H.R.7217 and the anti-boycott bill, and against the July 2026 Massie amendment, and in 2024 he signed letters rejecting South Africa’s genocide charge, urging the aid vote, seeking sanctions on UNRWA staff and requesting a briefing on Iranian influence in anti-Israel protests. His newest statement (Oct 2026) mourns “the Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza” but also pledges to “stand firmly against terrorism and those who threaten the security of Israel.” Counter-case: 2, since his October 2025 statement named thousands of civilian dead, over a third women and children, and said aid “must reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza who have nothing to do with Hamas,” with no self-defense language; his April 2024 ceasefire call said “Israel must do its part”; and he voted against H.R.8369 and the 2024 ICC-sanctions bill.
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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).