House Foreign Affairs Committee adds pro-Israel Democrats

House Democrats with pro-Israel bona fides are moving into key positions on the Foreign Affairs Committee as the party grapples with a growing divide among pro-Palestinian advocates and members traditionally supportive of Israel.

In an announcement Tuesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) was named ranking member of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. Moskowitz recently defeated his progressive primary challenger Oliver Larkin, who was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and had campaigned to end U.S. military aid to Israel. Larkin also called the war in Gaza a genocide.

“At a moment of enormous change across the region, I’ll work to strengthen America’s relationships with Israel and our Gulf allies, expand regional peace, advance American diplomacy, and ensure our foreign policy is grounded in strength, security, and reality,” Moskowitz wrote in a post on the social platform X .

Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) is moving into the ranking member position on the panel’s Oversight and Intelligence Subcommittee.

Jackson has straddled the Democratic line, saying he would accept campaign donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). But he is also outspoken against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his policies toward Palestinians. He has sponsored legislation to limit arms transfers to Israel.

Another staunchly pro-Israel Democrat joining the Oversight and Intelligence Subcommittee is Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who won a competitive primary in the majority-Black, newly drawn 20th District after her district was eliminated. The watchdog group Track AIPAC said Wasserman Schultz has received $1.5 million from pro-Israel PACs throughout her career.

And Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), who defeated a progressive primary challenger and is backed by AIPAC, is joining the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.

Not all of the Democratic additions to panels are staunchly pro-Israel.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wash.), chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is joining the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. Pocan is an outspoken critic against Israel and voted in favor of a controversial amendment to cut $3.3 billion in military funding for Israel. The measure was defeated, but it demonstrated the deep split in the Democratic Party, with 103 Democrats voting in favor and 98 against.

Israel’s standing among members of the Democratic Party has plummeted from the fallout of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. More than 70,000 Palestinians were killed in the war that was launched in retaliation for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel.

Attitudes toward Israel among Democratic voters further dropped following President Trump’s decision to join Israel in strikes against Iran in June 2025 and, later, to launch the war against Iran in February.

In a recent Pew Survey , 72 percent of Democrats and those who lean Democratic had a positive view of the Palestinian people, compared with the 26 percent of this group who had a positive view of Israel. Only 12 percent had a favorable view of the Israeli government.