At a time of increasing disagreement in the Democratic Party over Israel policy and growing calls within the party for conditioning aid to Israel, Virginia state Del. Dan Helmer, who is running for a House seat in Northern Virginia, is pushing back, standing on strong pro-Israel positions and a traditional view of the U.S.-Israel relationship. “American leadership is best served by having strong relationships with other democracies, and by leading with our values, and that includes having a strong relationship with the Jewish democracy in Israel,” Helmer said in a recent interview with Jewish Insider.

His stalwart support for Israel offers fresh evidence that in politically competitive suburban turf, it’s still good politics to stand with Israel in a Democratic primary. One of his leading Democratic rivals, former state House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, a Democratic Majority for Israel endorsee, has also made support for Israel central to her campaign.

While Filler-Corn has touted her backing from DMFI, Helmer highlighted the support he’s received from many Jewish and pro-Israel donors, as well as endorsements from Jewish elected officials including former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY). 

Despite their shared support for Israel, Helmer and Filler-Corn have clashed in the past. He was part of the effort that ousted her as Democratic Party leader after Democrats lost control of Virginia’s General Assembly in the 2021 elections.

If Helmer, who is also Jewish, and Filler-Corn end up splitting pro-Israel Democratic voters, it could boost the prospects of an alternative candidate who is less supportive of Israel. 

State Sen. Jennifer Boysko, who supported a cease-fire less than a month after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel, state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam and former Virginia Education Secretary Atif Qarni are also running in the Democratic primary, which features 10 candidates. Krystle Kaul, a former defense official, has put up a competitive fundraising showing largely through self-financing.

The son of an Israeli who immigrated to the U.S. and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, Helmer had relatives who fought in the Palmach, part of Israel’s pre-state military, and still has relatives living in Israel. Helmer is also an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran and a West Point graduate.

Helmer expressed support for an Israeli campaign in Rafah to eliminate the remaining Hamas battalions, noting that a potential incursion has the backing of broad swaths of Israeli society, and that eliminating Hamas and freeing the hostages is a necessary step to achieving peace.

He said that calls for conditions on U.S. aid to Israel are “incredibly frustrating” and suggested that they come from a lack of knowledge about the war and the precision weapons that the U.S. is providing to Israel. He added that all U.S. arms sales are subject to strict conditions, and that “we should not be in the process of targeting Israel simply for being a Jewish state.”

He said that it’s “to be determined” if the administration’s decision not to veto a United Nations resolution calling for a cease-fire will help advance the cause of peace, but raised concerns that Israel may have been “blindsided” by the vote, emphasizing the need for close collaboration and communication between the two allies.

Helmer, who said he’d watched footage from the Hamas attack on Israel, denounced those in the U.S. and internationally who attempt to defend or praise the terror group and its actions.

“I hope they understand that this is an organization that not only hates, and seeks to exterminate Jews, but also will kill you for being a homosexual, will kill you for having sex outside of wedlock, will kill you for being a member of a different faction or religious minority,” he said. “And so this is the hatred and the enemies that Israel is facing, and that unleashed a war by killing civilians and taking hostages in violation of the laws.”

Responding to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ouster, Helmer said that U.S. officials shouldn’t be calling for leadership changes in allied nations — although he did say it’s appropriate for the U.S. to give guidance and have discussions with allies over issues like judicial reform.

He called on Israel to be “thoughtful in its targeting,” to address mistakes  and to “do everything it can” to increase humanitarian aid. And he said the U.S. should be “encouraging” Israel to begin to plan for the day after the war in Gaza and a path to sustainable security for both sides.

“The context of the way in which Israel manages the war in the next few months will have a real bearing on its long-term security,” he said, “and as allies, we should be working with Israel to eliminate the threat of Hamas, and help them enable a sustained peace that protects legitimate interests of the United States and Israel.”

While acknowledging the widespread skepticism inside Israel, he said that the U.S. needs to continue to push for a two-state solution, describing that as ultimately the only sustainable pathway to preserving and securing Israel.

Addressing the broader Iran challenge in the region, Helmer said that the U.S. should “lead with diplomacy… while maintaining robust military capability,” pointing to efforts to build alliances and partnerships as the key to combating terrorist threats as well as adversaries such as China.

“There’s a real opportunity for peace here” between Israel and its Arab neighbors “that [Oct. 7] was meant to derail, and I don’t like letting terrorists derail opportunities for peace,” he said.

Helmer said on X that Israel was right to strike Islamic Revolutionary Guard officials at the Iranian consulate in Syria, an attack that killed senior Iranian commanders, and praised the Israeli and U.S. efforts to fend off the Iranian counter-strike on Israel.

“It is in U.S. interests to stand with Israel against Iran to ensure Iranian efforts to disrupt U.S. priorities through terrorist acts and development of a nuclear weapon fail, and I’m encouraged by the bipartisan support for that policy that we’re seeing today,” he said.

Helmer told JI he hopes to sit on the Armed Services or Foreign Affairs Committee if he’s elected.

At home, Helmer said that he believes his campaign is picking up support from within the Jewish community because people see him as a “champion who stands up against antisemitism.”

He noted that his then-GOP opponent targeted him in 2021 with a mailer widely seen as antisemitic, and added that his children have also faced antisemitic incidents, including swastika graffiti, in their schools.

“We have an opportunity to confront this head-on by having champions who stand for American values and show that you can be a Jew and an American,” he said, “and that those things are inherently tied to one another, that this is our Promised Land, this is a place that can keep us safe, and we need to keep fighting for that.” Helmer pledged to stand up to antisemitism inside his party on Capitol Hill as well, if he’s elected.

Helmer said that one of his proudest accomplishments in the state’s General Assembly was introducing bipartisan legislation, signed into law by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin this month, that adds ethnic origin as a protected class under the state’s hate crimes and discrimination laws. The initiative was aimed in part at combating antisemitism.

Helmer said that legislation passed in Virginia to combat antisemitism could provide a “good template” for legislation that could be implemented on the national level as well.

In 2023, however, the state delegate voted against legislation adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

He explained that he did so because the bill’s sponsors refused to acknowledge the antisemitic attacks that had targeted him on the campaign trail, claiming they were using the bill “as cover for what they did.” 

But he said he’s supportive of the IHRA definition, and would have voted for a House resolution last year declaring that anti-Zionism is antisemitic and expressing support for the IHRA definition, which split the House Democratic caucus in half.

Helmer linked his political career and his run for Congress to the ascendancy of former President Donald Trump, explaining, “We need to make sure the democracy that welcomed my family  — and offers safety and prosperity — is there for our kids and grandkids.”