Top Democrat Adam Smith Calls for ‘Leveraging’ Arms Sales to Israel

US Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has called on the Trump administration to consider halting certain offensive weapons sales to Israel in order to pressure its government to change course in the war in Gaza.

In a sweeping statement on Tuesday, the Washington Democrat said Israel must “implement a ceasefire in Gaza and massively increase the flow of humanitarian aid,” halt settlement expansion in the West Bank, and take “serious steps to reduce the violence there.”

“If Israel does not take these steps, I believe it is time for the United States government to stop the sale of some offensive weapons systems to Israel as leverage to pressure Israel into taking these actions,” Smith said.

While affirming his support for Israel and its right to defend itself, Smith argued that Israel’s military campaign has reached diminishing returns against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas after months of fighting.

“Right now, it is impossible to see how further military action in Gaza could degrade Hamas’s capabilities to any appreciable degree further than what has already occurred,” he said. “Six months of war since the end of the last ceasefire has done nothing to bring the hostages home.”

Smith acknowledged that he has opposed using US military assistance as leverage in the past but said shifting conditions in the Middle East, including the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and setbacks for Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, have created a moment where Israel could accept such pressure without jeopardizing its security.

“These are very positive developments that might not have happened if the US had reduced its support to Israel prior to them occurring,” Smith said. “But these developments also mean that Israel faces little if any risk to its security if the US blocks the sale of some weapons now.”

At the same time, Smith expressed concern that international criticism of Israel has too often failed to hold Hamas accountable, which he argued has encouraged the terrorist group to prolong the conflict. Still, he argued, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the absence of a path to freeing hostages necessitates a new approach.

“It is time to pressure Hamas by working with alternative Palestinian leadership to rebuild Gaza and give the Palestinian people some hope for their future,” Smith said. “Simply continuing the war has clearly failed to completely eliminate Hamas or gain the return of the hostages. It is time to try something else.”

He also warned that Israel risks “being ostracized globally in a way that is a far greater threat to the long-term security of Israel than anything their adversaries are now capable of doing” if the war continues without an end in sight.

Smith emphasized that his criticism of Israel’s conduct should not be confused with calls to delegitimize the Jewish state. “Opposing the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza to stop the war and end the suffering of the Palestinian people is very different from opposing the Israeli government out of a desire to wipe it off the map,” he said.

The Washington Democrat’s remarks mark one of the most forceful calls yet from a senior member of Congress to use US military aid as leverage over Israel, underscoring a growing debate within the Democratic Party about Washington’s role in the conflict.

As the war in Gaza grinds on, support for the Jewish state has cratered among the Democratic base. According to recent polling, 67 percent of Democrats (compared to 14 percent of Republicans) say that Israeli military actions in Gaza constitute either “genocide” or are “akin to genocide.” The same poll, released this week by the University of Maryland Critical Issues series, found a significant partisan divide, with 63 percent of Democrats saying the Trump administration’s policy is “too pro-Israel,” compared to 57 percent of Republicans who say it’s “about right.”