Jim Risch
R · U.S. Senate, Idaho · Tier 1
Tier 1, “Firmly pro-Israel”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair and a leading Republican defender of unconditional Israel support. He co-led the 99-senator support-for-Israel resolution, championed the ICC sanctions — even threatening, The Hill reported in June 2024 citing Senate sources, to bring his own committee’s business to a standstill to force the bill — voted No on the Sanders arms-disapproval resolutions, and attacked them on the floor in April 2026, saying of the Democrats who backed them, “They are trying to help you, Iran.” In October he said the Iran war “needs to end” because of fuel costs, while defending the decision to start it (Spokesman-Review). In August 2024 he was one of the lead signers, with Tom Cotton and Tim Scott, of a letter from 48 Republican senators protesting the Biden administration’s “partial arms embargo against Israel” and urging faster delivery of all weapons and ammunition Congress had approved; the letter cites his own May 2024 letter on the weapons hold. He won the May 19, 2026 Republican primary with 67% and, with the Democratic nominee David Roth out of the race, faces independents Todd Achilles and Natalie Fleming and Libertarian Matt Loesby in November.
An archetypal Tier 1 champion. Now Foreign Relations chair, he has made pro-Israel advocacy a signature, institutional priority rather than a reliable vote: as ranking member he co-led the 99-senator support-for-Israel resolution calling to speed up assistance and championed the ICC sanctions after the court’s prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, threatening, by The Hill’s account of Senate sources, to bring the committee to a standstill to force the bill, and led the floor opposition to the Sanders arms-disapproval resolutions. Unconditional support with no daylight.
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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).