Maxine Waters
D · U.S. House, CA-43 · Tier 4
Tier 4, “Critical / conditions aid”
An unusually deep record for a senior committee Democrat with no Squad affiliation, and it is mostly votes and original cosponsorships rather than statements. She was one of only 37 Democratic Nays on H.R.8034, the April 2024 Israel supplemental, and one of only 43 Democratic Nays on H.Res.883, the “river to the sea” condemnation — two of the most discriminating votes of the 118th Congress on Israel. She is an original cosponsor of UNRWA restoration (Mar 27, 2025), and cosponsors Block the Bombs (Sept 11, 2025), the Ceasefire Compliance Act (Jul 22, 2026) and the West Bank Violence Prevention Act (Jun 9, 2025). She is not a cosponsor of the McCollum Palestinian children’s-rights bill in either Congress — neither H.R.7545 in the 119th nor H.R.3103 in the 118th lists her. FEC shows no pro-Israel lobby money in any cycle. She does not use ‘genocide’ for Gaza in her own voice, and J Street has not endorsed her. In 2025 she signed letters to the administration on the detention of student activists Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi and, with most House Democrats, the September Schneider–Raskin letter opposing West Bank annexation. In August and September 2026 Waters signed Tlaib’s letter demanding the release of 20-year-old US citizen Sama Safi from Israeli military detention, the Dexter–Ruiz letter seeking the release of Gaza pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from Israeli detention without charge (Sep 8), the Pocan–Quigley letter on Palestinian medical workers held by Israel without charge and a 72-member letter urging Netanyahu to contain settler violence in the West Bank and “halt further settlement approvals” (both Sep 24). On October 5, 2026 she cosponsored the Stop the Settlements Act (H.R.10642), which would sanction those who build or expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and ban imports of settlement goods. In June 2026 Waters signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, led by Reps. Becca Balint and Joaquin Castro, on Israel’s operations in southern Lebanon, saying Israel’s “targeted, mass destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure does not constitute Israeli self-defense” and asking that, if U.S.-origin arms were confirmed in those operations, the administration “stop arms transfers being used in these operations until these violations cease”; the letter also affirmed that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”
A 4, carried by her votes. She was one of 37 Democrats to vote No on the April 2024 aid package and one of 43 to vote No on the “river to the sea” resolution; she also voted No on the IHRA bill and the September 2026 anti-boycott bill, and Aye on the July 2026 Massie amendment to strip Israel’s military financing. She cosponsors Block the Bombs (Sept 2025) and the Ceasefire Compliance Act (Jul 2026), and wrote H.R.7565, the Food for Palestinian Children and Families in Gaza Act (Feb 2026). What keeps her from going further toward the critical end: no genocide language in her own words, no embargo or end-all-aid position, nothing questioning Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state, and early-war votes most House Democrats cast, including a Yea on the October 2023 “Standing with Israel” resolution. No lobby money, so money plays no part in her placement.
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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).