Inside Chris Coons’ Turnabout On Israel

Chris Coons is a longtime supporter of Israel who could be months away from taking the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But if his fellow Democrats win the midterms, Coons wants a “thorough reexamination” of the U.S.-Israeli relationship — and is even open to imposing sanctions on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Delaware senator’s evolution matches that of other moderate Democrats in the three years since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack triggered a military response that Israel’s critics have said amounted to genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

And like the rest of his party, Coons faces potentially tough decisions after November, especially if the new Congress includes a wave of progressives pushing for a complete shutoff of arms to Israel.

In an interview with POLITICO, Coons detailed his views on Netanyahu, Israeli settlements and how he came to be open to conversations he once shut down.

“When we were in the middle of regular attacks on Israel by Iran and its proxies it was not the time to cut off military aid to the state of Israel,” Coons said. “But I think going forward, we need to have a thorough reexamination of our relationship.”

As part of that reexamination, Coons introduced a bill last month to impose sanctions on people and companies facilitating the building of Israeli settlements in part of the West Bank. Those could include Netanyahu, he said in the interview — acknowledging that he once would have considered that unthinkable.

“I am open to sanctioning certainly [Israeli National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich,” Coons said. “If the Netanyahu government continues on its current path, yes” to sanctioning Netanyahu, he added. “And that’s an indication of a fairly sharp break from where I would have been two or three years ago.”

Coons’ position on Israel has long been one of close support. He has backed ongoing security partnerships and kept close ties with the pro-Israel group AIPAC, whose support he continues to accept. In the early days after the Hamas assault on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, the senator followed President Joe Biden’s tone, traveling to Tel Aviv as part of a bipartisan delegation to “reinforce the United States’ steadfast support.”

But as Israel’s strikes killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza in ensuing months, he started expressing openness to conditions on military aid. At least 74,000 Palestinians have been killed over the past three years of fighting.

Then last month, Coons took a leadership role in two efforts to curb Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He joined as co-sponsor a resolution to order the State Department to report on alleged Israeli human violations in the West Bank. Nearly every Democrat voted for it, though Republican opposition sank it. He also introduced the sanctions bill with other Democrats.

As chair of Foreign Relations, Coons would be at the forefront of decisions on how far to push this new direction. Even if the Senate doesn’t flip, he will be an influential voice in a party that is poised to have significantly more power after November — and which is profoundly divided on Israel.

Advocates for Palestinians would like to see the party move further: to block bomb sales to Israel at a minimum and to reduce future military cooperation with the United States. Roughly half of Democrats said Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in an AP/NORC poll published in July.

“I’m for keeping our money here and not using it to buy bombs and tanks to drop on other people,” Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said in an MS NOW interview last month.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called in May for “withdrawing taxpayer support from Israel and conditioning arms sales.”

Coons, by contrast, was one of a handful of Democrats to join Republicans in blocking a measure in April that would have barred the sale of some weapons to Israel. And he could be in a key position to set the ceiling for what Democrats are willing to do, alongside House Foreign Affairs ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).

“There truly is a battle underway inside the Democratic party on this,” said Democratic strategist Joel Rubin, who served as deputy assistant secretary of State under President Barack Obama. “This is by no means settled. It is definitely going to fall on the head of poor Chris Coons and Rep. Gregory Meeks.”

Meeks didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Asked what might prompt him to consider blocking aid to Israel, Coons sidestepped the question.

“My goal is not to have a one-sided conversation where all I do is criticize Israel and Israelis,” he said. “We have to persistently pursue a humanitarian policy and a security policy that has a chance at delivering on a Palestinian self-governing territory and security and prosperity for Israel.”

He argues his shift is the direct result of actions of the Israeli government headed by Netanyahu.

“There’s been a real lack of accountability for Oct. 7 and the security failures that catapulted the country into chaos,” he said. Further, “the ways in which humanitarian aid was used inappropriately as leverage to secure hostage release … is also a key part of what’s made me more open to being critical of the Netanyahu government,” he added.

One upcoming litmus test for Congress on Israel will be the vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, expected near the end of the year. The versions passed by the House and advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee include measures to “expand and accelerate” U.S.-Israel defense technology ties, despite opposition from doves like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

While he didn’t directly address the measure, Coons said that the U.S. “benefits significantly from a close partnership with Israel.”

Coons depicted his approach as providing moral clarity to an ally in an uneasy time. Oct. 7, Coons said, made Israelis “dramatically more concerned about security and less willing to tolerate or engage in conversations about a two-state solution or a path towards peace with Palestinians.”

“The United States must still continue to be a voice for balancing security, self-determination and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.

Some activists see an opening in Coons for the party to go further against Israel, particularly legislation he co-sponsored that mandates reporting on Israeli human rights practices.

“This is the tool the Senate has to begin the process of conditioning aid to any country that receives U.S. security assistance,” said Hassan El-Tayyab, who lobbied Congress on the issue for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. “Coons has made the jump.”

There is a vast gulf between starting a process and completing it. If Democrats win a majority in the Senate, they will likely pursue changes in Israel policy with minimal Republican support. While President Donald Trump has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu, the U.S. administration has coordinated closely with Israel on striking Iran, and reversed the few punitive measures the Biden administration imposed, such as sanctions on individual violent Israeli settlers.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly reiterated the administration’s support for Israel, saying, “Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump.”

Speaking Monday night at a memorial service for the victims of Oct. 7 convened by the Israeli Embassy, deputy national security adviser Mike Needham said “each of our countries is locked in a battle between civilization and barbarism.”

Rubin, the political strategist, said the Democratic Party’s activist wing is likely to be disappointed by what Congress achieves on Israel.

“Democrats seem to be landing on harsh criticism of the Netanyahu government, harsh criticism of settlements generally but even more so the settler violence of the West Bank,” Rubin said. “You’ll see El-Sayed, Van Hollen and Sanders call for an end to all weaponry to Israel. You won’t see Coons doing that.”

While Democratic Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) have sworn off AIPAC funding, Coons said he would not follow suit.

“I take money from everyone who is engaged in advocacy on behalf of my constituents and Americans,” he said. “I’m not going to refuse to take money from an individual.”

There is also a chance Israeli elections on Oct. 27 could temper some of the rising criticism across the Democratic party, if Netanyahu’s party loses.

Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s chief rival, has called for a commission of inquiry into the events of Oct. 7 and has condemned what he called “a campaign of terror and violence” perpetrated by Israelis in the West Bank.

“It is not my goal to interfere in an election in a democratic allied country, but on the other side of that election, we’re going to have to have a hard look at the U.S.-Israel relationship and where we’re headed,” Coons said.

A version of this article previously appeared in POLITICO’s National Security Daily newsletter. Like this content? Sign up below!