Jon Ossoff
D · U.S. Senate, Georgia · Tier 3
Tier 3, “Pro-Israel, critical”
Votes to block specific weapons tied to civilian harm and West Bank settler violence (tank rounds and mortars in Nov 2024, the Ben-Gvir-linked rifle sale in July 2025) and, in April 2026, the bulldozer sale and 12,000 1,000-lb bombs, after four times voting to preserve air-to-ground munitions sales. Explaining one of those votes in July 2025, he wrote: “I voted against discharging S. Res. 34, a similar resolution with respect to a sale of air-to-ground munitions,” adding that “Israel’s capacity to strike those who would launch missiles and rockets at Israeli civilians depends upon the deterrence provided by the Israeli Air Force.” (The bill texts are 1,000-lb and 2,000-lb general purpose bomb bodies and JDAM guidance kits, not counter-missile munitions.) In the most recent round he voted Yea on both April 15, 2026 resolutions, alongside the every-round senators. On the Senate floor in November 2024 he said Netanyahu was “beholden to Cabinet Ministers in Mr. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who insist there be no deviation from policies that are gratuitously brutal, even over American objections,” and said the evidence that force “has repeatedly been applied with reckless disregard for the innocent is too credible for us to ignore,” while pairing it with “yes, defend yourself” and calling the alliance ironclad. Does not use “genocide.” For all the block votes, he does not back a full arms embargo. In a June 20, 2025 update to constituents, as Iranian missiles struck Israel, Ossoff wrote that he had “cosponsored bipartisan legislation to strengthen cooperation between the United States and Israel countering threats from missiles, rockets, and unmanned aerial vehicles” and had asked Senate appropriators “to allocate an additional $500 million for U.S.-Israel collaborative defense programs including Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow — programs I have supported every year in the Senate.” In July 2025 he signed Van Hollen’s letter seeking an independent U.S.-led investigation into the killing of American citizen Saifullah Musallet in the West Bank and the Welch–Van Hollen letter urging an end to U.S. funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and a return to UN-led aid coordination. In his Oct 8, 2026 debate with Mike Collins, asked whether Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, he left that question to the International Criminal Court but said, “There is no doubt in my mind that Israeli forces prosecuting the war in Gaza violated the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law,” adding, “I care deeply about the security of the Israeli people, among whom are members of my family. I also care about innocent Palestinian life, and make no apology for my votes.” In the same answer he faulted Collins, who “wants to sanction and defund the International Criminal Court”: “His view is that there should not be accountability for crimes against humanity, no matter who commits them.” In their second debate, on Oct 13, 2026, asked whether he would put conditions on military support for Israel, he said “Israel had every right to go to war with Hamas after the despicable October 7th terrorist attack,” that senators must make sure “that American laws and international laws are being respected by those who fight with our weapons,” and “When it comes to selling weapons or giving weapons to a foreign government, we should assess in every case whether that foreign government is acting consistent with our interests, our laws and our values,” adding, “The safety and security of Palestinians matters to me, and it should matter to all of us” (JTA).
A Tier 3, squarely in the middle of the tier. His arms-block votes are real and repeated, but discriminating: he blocks transfers tied to the humanitarian crisis, settler violence, or Ben-Gvir’s forces (rifles, tank rounds, mortars) while four times voting to protect the air-to-ground munitions pipeline — 1,000-lb and 2,000-lb general purpose bomb bodies and JDAM guidance kits, per the bill texts — including No on both April 2025 rounds. His criticism in his own words is forceful — “gratuitously brutal” on the Senate floor in November 2024, “the intolerable starvation of children” in his July 2025 vote statement, and, in an October 2026 debate, “no doubt in my mind” that Israeli forces violated international humanitarian law — but he rejects unconditional support without leaving the pro-Israel frame: he calls the tie ironclad, supports Israel’s right to defend itself, leaves the genocide question to the International Criminal Court, and backs no embargo. That selectivity keeps him off 4. The sales he protected are offensive munitions, not defensive interceptors — he defended them as the Israeli Air Force’s deterrent against rocket and missile fire — so this is not an Iron Dome carve-out: he blocked rifles, tank rounds and mortars while four times preserving the bombs, and he stays inside the liberal-Zionist frame. The counter-case toward 3/4 is April 2026, when he voted to block both sales, beside the sharp criticism in his own words.
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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).