by Donna Gordon Blankinship, Washington State Standard
July 19, 2026
When the House of Representatives voted this week on a proposal to cut $3.3 billion in U.S. military assistance for Israel, the amendment failed but gathered some surprising Democratic “yes” votes.
A trio of Washington lawmakers were among those who backed the measure.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a leader in the party’s progressive wing, has been a leading critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and a consistent skeptic of providing further military aid to the country. So the Seattle-area representative’s vote for the amendment wasn’t unexpected.
But joining her was Rep. Adam Smith, who represents a neighboring district that extends south from Seattle to the north edge of Tacoma. Smith has always been a strong supporter of U.S. aid to Israel but now has two election opponents from the left. He described his vote as a message to the Israeli government.
Rep. Emily Randall, who has positioned herself on the party’s left flank, also voted for the measure. The state’s other five Democrats and two Republicans voted “no.”
The mixed vote reflects building tensions in the Democratic Party here in Washington.
While opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza has been prominent at Seattle protests over the past few years, the debate really hasn’t entered the political fray in more than a symbolic way. Until this year.
Last month, the Washington State Democratic Party approved a party platform at its convention in Spokane that mentions Israel repeatedly.
The topic wasn’t even a blip on Washington opinion polls before the 2024 presidential election, but two years later, Israel is part of the conversation.
It doesn’t appear that a candidate’s support for Israel will influence election results in Washington this fall like it likely did in New York and Colorado elections earlier this summer. Progressive advocates, candidates and electeds, who wish Israel were on the ballot, reluctantly agree. But even in races for the state Legislature, which don’t usually include talk about foreign policy, the topic is filtering in.
Embedded in the state party platform
The state Democratic Party’s 2026 platform included numerous mentions of Israel, Jews and Palestinians, including:
- A statement against antisemitism that could be interpreted as saying Jewish support for Israel is partly to blame for antisemitism: “There has been a dramatic resurgence in antisemitism in recent years on all sides of the political spectrum, due in part to actions taken by the Israeli government.”
- An endorsement of peace in Israel and Palestine, accompanied by a long list of ways the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have been mistreated without a mention of any negative treatment of Israelis. For example: “We believe Palestinians in the West Bank should be able to live with dignity and without the threat of settler violence or forced displacement from expanding Israeli settlements.”
- A statement of Palestinian rights to self-determination, but no mention of Israeli or Jewish rights in the place they also consider their homeland.
- A whole section of the document on Palestinian rights, from an end to Israeli occupation to freedom of movement and access for the Palestinian people.
Advocate Yaz Kader says the strength of the statements in the platform reflects a growing concern, especially among younger Democrats, about U.S. dollars and weapons going to Israel to fight wars in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon.
“Elected leaders need to listen. It’s become clear that Democratic voters, even most American voters, want to stop sending weapons to Israel,” Kader said.
While polling shows American voters’ No. 1 issue continues to be the economy, including affordability and housing, Kader said the two subjects are related.
“We need to be spending our money here, not for wars abroad and certainly not for genocide,” he said.
Kader, a Palestinian who was a delegate to the party convention, said he believes only a small minority of both Democratic voters and party activists disagree with the statements in the platform.
Jewish lawmakers and members of the Democratic Party — a small minority of Washington’s population — are among those who were not pleased with what they see as the one-sided approach to the platform. Jews do not universally endorse Israel or its government, but a majority of Jews do support the existence of the Jewish state, although that support isn’t as strong among younger people.
Sen. Lisa Wellman, D-Mercer Island, was disappointed with the state party platform and believes this effort against Israel has been rising in Washington over time.
“At first, it seemed like it was very organic. And now I question that because of other information I have,” Wellman said, referring to accusations that some protests in Washington have been paid for and orchestrated by groups outside of the state.
She worries about antisemitism and, as the chair of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, has had constituents come to her to talk about feeling unsafe in local schools, including the University of Washington.
Wellman said efforts to add statements to the party platform about Palestine and Israel have been going on for a few years but this is the first time, in her memory, that the efforts succeeded so well. She has seen similarly heightened efforts within the Legislature, including advocacy before the Senate Ways and Means Committee to divest from investments in any companies and products that come from Israel.
After 10 years as a Democratic leader in the Legislature, Wellman, who is Jewish, said this year’s platform made her feel like maybe she didn’t belong in the party anymore. She said she even reached out to the chairwoman, Shasti Conrad, asking for a meeting, saying that she was thinking of leaving the party. Conrad sent a member of her team to meet with Wellman. (Conrad declined through a spokesperson to comment for this article.)
Wellman, who is not running this year and plans to retire from the Legislature in 2028, said she was not hearing from candidates that this issue is coming up during campaigning, but she is aware that some Democrats are being primaried from the left, in some cases by people who have made Israel an issue in their campaigns.
“I don’t find, in general, in the general population that Israel is an issue at all,” she said.
Bubbling up in congressional elections
The Middle East isn’t part of the political conversation about the open seat for the 4th Congressional District in central Washington or in the only real toss-up congressional race in Washington this year, in southwest Washington’s 3rd District. Voters there appear to be making this election into a referendum on the Trump administration and how incumbent Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has done in office.
Smith’s 9th District is a different story.
In a statement after this week’s amendment vote, the 15-term congressman who is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was incredibly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s approach to Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria, their refusal to find partners for peace among the Palestinian people, their callous disregard for human suffering and the way the Israel government has done nothing to stop Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“But after nearly two years of me raising these concerns with the Israeli government and U.S. supporters of Israel, nothing has changed. Many express sympathy for my views and assure me things will change, but that has not happened. I take this vote to try once more to get the attention of the Israeli government,” he wrote.
Running to Smith’s left this year is Kshama Sawant, a socialist and former Seattle City Council member.
She is hearing from voters that they support many of the progressive ideas she is campaigning on, from affordable housing and rent control, to free healthcare and shutting down ICE.
“The mass of the American working class has been to the left of the politics on offer for decades, actually,” she said. “The Israel issue is an issue in itself. It’s also representative of the overall anger.”
As Sawant sees it, “There is enormous support for ending support for Israel.”
Sawant said Americans are equally concerned about economic issues and the wars in the Middle East, and she makes a connection there. She said people see the trillion dollars being spent on the war in Iran as money that should be spent at home in the United States to support housing, education and infrastructure.
“People are absolutely angry and fired up for change,” Sawant said.
That may be true, but whether they’ll vote differently in November remains to be seen.
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