- Bridge is answering questions from readers throughout the campaign season
- The first asks where federal lawmakers representing Michigan stand on Israel
- Republicans are in lockstep support of Israel, and while most Democrats do as well some progressives are balking
This week, Bridge Michigan launched its Ask Bridge Anything feature in its Voter Guide that invites readers to ask questions that are promptly answered.
Our first question comes from a reader who asks:
“Which of my congresspeople and senators are actively pro-Palestinian, actively pro-Israel and which are choosing to remain neutral/centrist?”
Like the Middle East, it’s a complicated question, with a complicated answer.
Israel remains one of the United States’ strongest allies, and enjoys wide support from members of Congress and, for the most part, the Biden administration.
But some fault lines have formed as Israel’s war in Gaza continues and intensifies, after the Hamas killed citizens and took hostages on Oct. 7.
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Republicans are almost universally pro-Israel. Most Democrats are as well, the progressive wing of the party is questioning the support.
Some facts: All Republicans and most Democrats supported the $26 billion aid package for Israel and Gaza on April 20 that the U.S. Senate later approved and President Joe Biden signed.
That package includes $17 billion for Israel, including $4 billion to replenish its missile defense systems. Another $9 billion would go to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Two U.S. representatives from Michigan — Dan Kildee of Flint Township and Rashida Tlaib of Detroit — voted against that package.
All the state’s Republican representatives also supported an Oct. 11 censure of Tlaib over her comments after the Oct. 7 attack. All Michigan Democrats opposed the measure.
Tlaib has said Israel is “an apartheid state” and condemned Israel for the scope of its Gaza attacks that are blamed on an estimated 35,000 deaths in Gaza, including an estimated 7,800 children.
U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, led one effort to censure Tlaib, saying her “longstanding history of antisemitic and racist rhetoric toward Israel cannot go unchecked.”
Tlaib has continually fought for recognition of Palestinians and has called upon the International Court of Justice to seek the arrest of Israeli leaders for the “unimaginable human suffering” caused by the Israeli invasion.
“There is nowhere safe in Gaza,” Tlaib said in a statement.
Additionally, several Michigan Republicans called upon U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in April to investigate an April 5 rally in Dearborn where some participants chanted “Death to America.” (Organizers of the rally denounced the chants.)
Here are the views of members of Congress.
Both U.S. senators, Democrats Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, supported the aid package for Israel and Gaza and have acknowledged their support for Israel while calling for the protection of “innocent civilians” in Gaza.
Jack Bergman, R–Watersmeet, 1st District
Bergman supported the $26 billion aid package for Israel and Gaza and has been critical of anti-Israel protests. He introduced a resolution to censure Tlaib.
Bergman joined fellow Michigan Republicans in asking U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the rally in Dearborn.
John Moolenaar, R–Caledonia, 2nd District
Moolenaar supported the $26 billion aid package for Israel and Gaza, and has said “the United States stands with Israel.”
“As Americans, we must be resolute in our support for Israel and the Jewish people so they know they will never have to face their enemies alone. There is no doubt that Iran, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth,” Moolenar said in October.
He voted to censure Tlaib and joined fellow representatives in calling for investigation of the Dearborn rally.
Hillary J. Scholten, D–Grand Rapids, 3rd District
Scholten has declared that U.S. support for Israel is “ironclad” and supported the $26 billion aid package for Israel and what she called the “innocent victims” in Gaza.
This week, on social media, she said “our goal (is) dismantling Hamas’ military capabilities so we can establish a lasting peace and a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.”
She also has said she supports “Israel's right to exist as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people,” adding that Israel “must defend itself against its enemies, including Hamas in the wake of the brutal terrorist attacks of October 7.”
Scholten voted against the Tlaib censure. She faces a Palestinian-American challenger, Salim Al-Shatel in the Democratic primary.
Bill Huizenga, R–Holland, 4th District
Huizenga has long supported Israel and has proposed legislation to block Iran — a supporter of Hamas — from gaining access to U.S. financial institutions.
His legislation would prohibit banks from participating in import/export transactions with Iran of goods, services, or technology. The west Michigan representative supported the $26 billion aid package for Israel and Gaza.
“Make no mistake. Hamas is no friend to the Palestinian people in my opinion, and the Iranian regime is no friend of ours. We must not waver in our support for our ally Israel,” Huizenga said.
He voted to censure Tlaib.
Tim Walberg, R–Tipton, 5th District
Walberg is a strong supporter of Israel who supported the $26 billion aid package on April 20 for Israel and Gaza.
He caught flak in March when he told a town hall forum “we shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.”
He later said he didn’t mean to imply Israel should drop nuclear bombs on Gaza, saying he “used a metaphor” to demonstrate that Israel should end the war quickly.
He voted to censure Tlaib and joined some Republicans in calling for an investigation into the Dearborn rally.
Debbie Dingell, D–Ann Arbor, 6th District
Dingell has tried to listen to both her Arab and Jewish constituents, condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel but also what she calls “too much devastation” in the subsequent Israeli attacks on Gaza.
She was ill on April 20 and did not vote on the $26 billion aid package for Israel and Gaza. She did not say how she would have voted.
In November, Dingell called for the release of all hostages and a bilateral ceasefire in the conflict.
Elissa Slotkin, D–Lansing, 7th District
Slotkin, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by outgoing Democrat Debbie Stabenow, is a supporter of Israel who supported the $26 billion aid package.
Slotkin, however, noted that her support was not unequivocal. She called for a ceasefire, the release of hostages and the flow of humanitarian assistance.
If Israel did not address the humanitarian crisis, Slotkin said in a statement, “it will be time to consider restrictions on our offensive military assistance.”
Daniel T. Kildee, D–Flint Township, 8th District
Kildee is not seeking re-election. He said “strongly” supports Israel but said he could only support defensive assistance for the country and voted against the aid package.
“I could not in good conscience vote to send more U.S.-taxpayer funded weapons to Israel that could be used to kill innocent civilians and worsen the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” he said on X, formerly called Twitter.
He said the U.S. must work toward a ceasefire, the return of hospitals and pursuing “lasting peace through a two-state solution.”
Lisa McClain, R–Bruce Township, 9th District
McClain supports Israel, voted for the $26 billion aid package, voted to censure Tlaib and called for an investigation into Dearborn rally.
In an April 19 post on X, formerly called Twitter, she attacked Iran for its support of Hamas, which attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
“Iran is an enemy of the free world, and Israel has every right to defend itself,” she wrote.
John James, R–Shelby Township, 10th District
James supports Israel, voting for the $26 billion aid package and Tlaib’s censure. He has called on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate a rally in Dearborn.
“I stand with the Jewish people, and I UNEQUIVOCALLY stand with Israel,” he wrote in April on X, formerly called Twitter.
Haley Stevens (D–Birmingham) 11th District
Stevens is a staunch defender of Israel who defeated U.S. Rep. Andy Levin in the 2022 Democratic primary with broad financial support from pro-Israel special interest groups.
She supported the $26 billion aid package to Israel in April, and she has been one of the biggest recipients of pro-Israel aid in Congress.
Ten days after the Hamas attack — but before the Oct. 27 Israeli invasion of Gaza — Stevens blasted Hamas and introduced a resolution condemning the attack.
“Hamas holding innocent Israeli civilians hostage is the ultimate act of terrorism, this resolution recognizes these acts for what they are – abhorrent,” Stevens said in a statement.
Rashida Tlaib, D–Detroit, 12th District
Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress, born in Detroit to Palestinian immigrants, voted against the $26 billion aid package for Israel and Gaza.
And she recently called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials “to finally hold them accountable for this genocide” following the attacks on Rafah in Gaza.
Along largely partisan lines, Tlaib was censured “for promoting false narratives” regarding the Oct. 7 attack. It passes 234 to 188, with 22 Democrats in support and four Republicans in Opposition.
This week, she said the “Israeli government is still trying to erase an entire people.”
Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, 13th District
Thanedar voted for the aid package and has backed the U.S.-Israel relationship and the Abraham Accords of 2020 that announced the opening of official diplomacy between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Thanedar joined other Michigan leaders on Oct. 9 at a synagogue in support of Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks. In February, he called for a ceasefire, but only if Hamas released all hostages and dismantled its military infrastructure.
“Israel has a right to defend itself, and the Israeli people deserve to live without terrorism or harm. The Palestinian people also deserve self-determination and security. However, we cannot achieve long-lasting peace and security in the region with Hamas.,” Thanedar said.
Thanedar has taken heat for his stance from pro-Palestinian activists. In December, activists disrupted a holiday party he hosted. In May, a community center bearing his name was vandalized with pro-Palestinian graffiti.
