Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday that he “believe[s] 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 implementing a ceasefire, increasing humanitarian aid in Gaza and stopping the expansion of West Bank settlements.

Smith, a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition who has played a leading role in Democratic foreign policy, was careful to emphasize that he supports Israel and “recognize[s] both the threats they face and the reality that the actions of Hamas and their supporters have driven this conflict.” 

He also affirmed that, “Yes, the hostages must be returned. It is outrageous that Hamas took the hostages and has continued to hold them.”

“But,” Smith said, “six months of war since the end of the last ceasefire has done nothing to bring the hostages home” and it is “impossible to see how further military action in Gaza could degrade Hamas … further than what has already occurred.”

The Washington state Democrat, who has served his Seattle-area district since 1997, said he changed his position on blocking weapons sales to Israel because the “situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically in recent months.” He acknowledged that the weakening of Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria “might not have happened if the U.S. had reduced its support to Israel prior.” 

“But these developments also mean that Israel faces little if any risk to its security if the U.S. blocks the sale of some weapons now,” Smith continued.

He recognized that attempts to pressure Israel into ending the war could “simply embolden Hamas to keep fighting. I believe this has happened throughout the war as various international groups have consistently failed to hold Hamas accountable.”

“I am not naive that this approach is somehow guaranteed to work, but 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,” Smith said. 

He said the world should not “blindly trust” how Hamas conveys the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but the “scale” of the crisis “cannot be denied. 

“I also believe that if Israel does not end the war in Gaza, they run the risk of 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,” Smith said. 

Smith also spoke out against the far-left elements of his party, saying he “remain[s] concerned that so many people advocating for the U.S. to stop supporting Israel believe that Israel does not have the right to exist as a country. 

“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,” Smith said.