Joe Morelle
D · U.S. House, NY-25 · Tier 1/2
Tier 1/2, between “Firmly pro-Israel” and “Mainstream pro-Israel”
"I stand unequivocally with Israel" (Oct 2023); "a vocal supporter of Israel and its right to defend itself" (Feb 2024). He is an original cosponsor of the anti-BDS IGO Anti-Boycott Act, voted for the Israel aid supplemental, is DMFI-endorsed, and has rejected the word ‘genocide’; his criticism has centered on the Netanyahu government, alongside support for a two-state solution, though he voted Nay on H.R.8369 (May 2024) and on the ICC-sanctions bills in 2024 and 2025. On Sep 8, 2026 Morelle cosponsored the Jewish American Security Act (H.R.9211), an antisemitism bill whose findings say antisemitism includes attacking or demonizing Jews over their “real or perceived connection to, affiliation with, or support for, the State of Israel as a Jewish state.” In January 2024 he signed the Smith–Manning letter, whose signers “thoroughly reject” South Africa’s “charge of genocide” against Israel. At the October 29, 2026 News 8 WROC debate he said he hopes Israel’s election “ends up with a government not led by Benjamin Netanyahu,” who has “not been a force for peace or a force for stability in the region,” that “Israel needs to continue to have a right to exist, right to defend themselves” and that “the Palestinian people need a homeland”; asked whether Israel’s response to October 7 had been disproportionate, he said “people feel Israel has responded in some ways that everyone doesn’t agree with.”
A 1/2. He says he stands “unequivocally with Israel” (October 2023), is an original cosponsor of the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, voted for the April 2024 aid package and is AIPAC- and DMFI-endorsed. In an October 2024 WXXI interview, as the station summarized it, he acknowledged the humanitarian crisis in Gaza alongside Israel’s right to defend itself and disagreed with using the word “genocide.” He has made no statement of concern for Palestinian civilians apart from Israel’s defense. His Nays on H.R.8369, both ICC-sanctions bills and the 2026 anti-boycott bill, his signature on the September 2025 letter of 178 House Democrats opposing unilateral annexation of the West Bank, and his February 2026 cosponsorship of the West Bank Violence Prevention Act, are positions most House Democrats took, and in January 2025, despite his ICC-sanctions Nay, he signed the letter urging the court to rescind its warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. He has written no Israel legislation and holds no leadership role on Israel, which keeps him short of 1.
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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).