Pat Ryan
D · U.S. House, NY-18 · Tier 2/3
Tier 2/3, between “Mainstream pro-Israel” and “Pro-Israel, critical”
NY-18 incumbent with a substantial pro-Israel record and a July 2026 break with AIPAC. Voted YES on H.R.23 (the ICC-sanctions “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act,” Jan 9, 2025) — one of only 45 Democrats to join Republicans — and on the June 2024 ICC-sanctions bill (H.R.8282); voted for the April 2024 military-aid supplemental, after signing that month’s Gottheimer–Wilson letter urging Speaker Johnson to bring the Senate’s national-security supplemental, with its aid to Israel, to a vote; attended Netanyahu’s July 2024 speech “out of deep respect” for the alliance; cosponsored Block the Bombs (H.R.3565) on July 15, 2026 — 420 days after introduction, the 78th signer, and the same day as the FMF vote; took $418,759 from AIPAC’s PAC across the 2022–2026 cycles (FEC), $138,538 of it in 2026, plus $5,000 from DMFI PAC. He backed a temporary ceasefire in 2024, co-signed a veterans’ letter urging Israel to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid and, with most House Democrats, signed the September 2025 Schneider–Raskin letter to Netanyahu and his ministers opposing annexation of the West Bank. He also voted to censure Rashida Tlaib and pushed for $9B in Gaza humanitarian aid, but resists a permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo and declines the word “genocide.” He has also cosponsored the U.S.-Israel Defense Partnership Act (H.R.1229), which would deepen U.S.-Israel military cooperation and extend the stockpile of U.S. weapons kept in Israel for its use through 2029, since February 2025. His third-quarter FEC report shows he returned the money: $25,000 to AIPAC’s PAC and $5,000 to DMFI PAC on July 24, 2026, and $199,969 in refunds through September to donors whose contributions had come earmarked through AIPAC’s PAC. In June 2026 Ryan 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.” In a Times Union interview published Oct 25, 2026, asked what actions of Netanyahu’s government he meant when he explained his July vote to strike the $3.3 billion in military financing, he pointed to “horrific” settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and said the money would be better spent “at home,” the paper reported.
A 2/3. He is a mainstream pro-Israel Democrat with real concern for Palestinian civilians. His pro-Israel side is substantial — the ICC-sanctions Yeas (H.R.8282 in June 2024 and H.R.23 in January 2025, one of ~45 Dems), the aid supplemental, Netanyahu-speech attendance, AIPAC money, the Tlaib censure and his signature on the January 2024 Smith–Manning letter, whose signers “thoroughly reject” South Africa’s “charge of genocide” against Israel — which keeps him close to 2. But he also co-signed the Aug 2025 veterans’ letter urging Israel to “flood Gaza with humanitarian aid” and to “actively prevent harm to civilians, particularly children,” pushed relentlessly for the $9B in Gaza humanitarian aid, and repeatedly called for surging civilian aid. That genuine humanitarian consideration keeps him off 1/2. He also voted Aye on the certified Roll Call 243 (Jul 15, 2026) to strike the $3.3B FMF, publicly renounced the lobby — “I expect groups like AIPAC will not support me… and frankly, I don’t want their support,” and, asked by Track AIPAC on X whether he would drop the group, replied “Yes, don’t want their endorsement and returning the funds”; DMFI de-listed him and AIPAC pulled his donation links. His third-quarter FEC report shows he followed through: $25,000 back to AIPAC’s PAC and $5,000 to DMFI PAC on July 24, 2026, and $199,969 in refunds through September to donors whose contributions had come earmarked through AIPAC’s PAC. He also cosponsored Block the Bombs on Jul 15, 2026 (congress.gov) — the day of the vote. Asked in late October what Netanyahu-government actions that vote answered, he pointed to “horrific” settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank (Times Union). The public break and Block the Bombs pull toward 3/4, but that pull is outweighed by a heavily pro-Israel record before 2026 and by the timing — every critical act he has taken beyond humanitarian appeals and the 2025 annexation letter is dated inside his own election year. He sits at 2/3, not 3/4. He resists a permanent ceasefire and arms embargo and declines ‘genocide.’
Open the full card, with votes, money and every source, on elect26 →
elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).