Caffeinated Politics

There are so many topics that beg for attention every week, every day in our nation. It is impossible for this one-armed paperhanger to tackle them all. But I would be really amiss if I didn’t throw a few thoughts your way about a huge political turn that took place this week, as a substantial number of Democrats found their path forward concerning Israel.

House Democrats split nearly evenly on a Wednesday amendment to cut off U.S. aid to Israel, showcasing how the contentious issue is reshaping the political dynamics in the party. It was uplifting to see that 103 Democrats voted in favor of the amendment.

They voted against Israel because they well understood that the United States cannot continue treating Israel as exempt from the standards it applies to every other nation receiving American military support. For decades, Israel has been shielded by a spineless bipartisan reflex that equated scrutiny over that nation’s irresponsible and at times odious behavior with such oversight being seen as a betrayal. After the scale of destruction and humanitarian disaster the world watched in Gaza, there was no way credible and reasoned members of Congress could stay silent or pretend that Israel was in any way justified in their actions.

The moral argument that Israel has used as a defense for every underhanded and barbaric attack on anyone who is not Jewish is utterly offensive. Even prior to the incident in October 2023, Israel wished the world to think it had some higher level of moral exceptionalism that allowed it to act with impunity. But the world watched in horror as entire neighborhoods in Gaza were reduced to rubble. Hospitals were blown to smithereens by the Israeli military. Aid was blocked, and people suffered and died needlessly. Civilian casualties in Gaza reached levels that humanitarian organizations described as unprecedented in a modern conflict.

Let me make it very clear so supporters of Israel can understand. When children make up a staggering proportion of the dead, the assertion of moral clarity from Israel becomes impossible to sustain. When Democrats cast their votes this week, they were finished with being tied through complicity to the Israeli government.

There was also a legal dimension to the vote that cannot be ignored. U.S. law prohibits providing military assistance to forces engaged in gross human‑rights violations. These statutes exist precisely to prevent American weapons from being used in ways that violate international norms. Israel’s indefensible and greedy ongoing settlement expansion, which is illegal under international law, and the genocide in Gaza have raised the alarm bells about whether U.S. support is being used in ways that contradict American legal obligations. Voting against Israel was, in part, an affirmation that Congress cannot selectively ignore the law when the violator is…well..Israel.

I ground my foundations in international affairs, viewed from the perspective of the United States, regarding human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. So, when the United States continues to arm a government accused of mass killings, grossly disproportionate force, collective punishment, and unlawful land seizures, then I fear that our global standing erodes. I understand that in an increasingly authoritarian world, human rights are increasingly dismissed as optional. I demand that Congress reassert our moral leadership in the world. Wednesday’s vote was a powerful example of what I think is a needed course correction for my party.

I have followed the Middle East for most of my life and domestic politics during that same period. Over the past decade, but especially in the past three years, younger voters, Arab‑American communities, Jewish progressives, and human‑rights advocates have demanded that Congress stop rubber‑stamping Israeli ruthless and indefensible military actions. Polling throughout 2024 and 2025 showed that the old consensus of appeasing Israel’s behavior had cracked. I was not sure how the crack would open and how the issue would come to the forefront. This week, we found that political reality had appeared in Congress based on the fact that the public mood shifted, and lawmakers responded accordingly.

The Wednesday vote signaled that U.S. support for Israel is no longer unconditional and that human rights—long treated as an accessory to foreign policy—are finally being taken seriously. Jimmy Carter is smiling. His foreign policy goals have been given fresh oxygen.