Mike Lawler
R · U.S. House, NY-17 · Tier 1
Tier 1, “Firmly pro-Israel”
Pro-Israel Republican incumbent in NY-17; lead sponsor of anti-BDS and “Stand With Israel” legislation, chairs the House Foreign Affairs MENA Subcommittee, and called Mamdani’s parade absence “absolutely disgraceful.” AIPAC is his top career donor. He is a member of the Abraham Accords Caucus. In a Sep 28, 2026 debate he called Israel “our greatest ally in the Middle East,” said “They have not committed a genocide” and, as JTA reported, said Israel is acting within its legal authority in expanding West Bank settlements. On the third anniversary of October 7 he said “our commitment must remain unwavering. We must fully disarm and dismantle Hamas. We must stand with Israel,” and in a post quoted by the New York Daily News he called Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose anniversary statement the paper said mourned both Israelis and Palestinians, a “rabid antisemite.” In January 2024 he signed the Smith–Manning letter, whose signers “thoroughly reject” South Africa’s “charge of genocide” against Israel. At a PIX11 debate with Cait Conley on October 14, 2026 he said “I am opposed to any effort by the Democrats and the DSA to defund the strategic partnership between the United States and Israel, and I will fight it tooth and nail” (JTA).
A Tier-1 champion on many counts. He is the lead sponsor of the marquee anti-BDS bill (the IGO Anti-Boycott Act), the Stand With Israel Act and the Antisemitism Awareness Act (H.R.6090 in 2023, which passed the House in 2024; H.R.1007 in 2025), and the Republican co-lead of Josh Gottheimer’s Bunker Buster Act to arm Israel against Iran and Dan Goldman’s Jewish American Security Act; he chairs the Foreign Affairs MENA Subcommittee, and AIPAC is his top career donor. In October 2024 he and Democrat Jared Moskowitz led the letter of 107 House members warning UN Secretary-General António Guterres that any downgrade of Israel’s standing at the General Assembly would bring a matching downgrade of U.S. support for the UN. Authored Israel legislation plus a subcommittee gavel and maximalist advocacy place him firmly among the champions.
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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).