House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on Thursday that should Democrats regain control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections, the party will adopt a “broadly inclusive” but fundamentally new approach to policy on Israel.

Jeffries’ comments follow a historic, highly divisive floor vote on Wednesday where nearly half of House Democrats broke with him to support an amendment cutting off $3.3 billion in U.S. foreign military aid to Israel. The amendment to the 2027 State Department appropriations bill, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), ultimately failed, but laid bare a continuing erosion of support for Israel within the Democratic caucus.

“The situation relative to the United States relationship with Israel, the Palestinian people and policy in the Middle East has to change because the current status quo is unsustainable,” Jeffries said at a press conference. “Our approach will be one that is broadly inclusive … [and will include] dialogue across the entire spectrum of the House Democratic Caucus and then be able to land on the highest common denominator, but being guided by the effort to actually create a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.” 

Jeffries outlined that the future Democratic approach will be “anchored in several different principles,” including a renewed commitment to a two-state solution.

“[It will include] Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state and homeland for the Jewish people, and at the same time, pressing the urgent need to establish an independent Palestinian state that allows the Palestinian people to live with dignity, respect, and self-determination — and that needs to be dealt with urgently.”

Jeffries also noted that the Democratic Party under his leadership will support all necessary measures to allow for the “prosperity” of the Palestinian people and the alleviation of “suffering,” including calling for a surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. 

“It means not just the reconstruction of Gaza, but the modernization of Gaza and investing, along with our partners in the Gulf states and moderate Arab nations, in a path toward prosperity for the Palestinian people,” Jeffries said. “Hamas needs to be disarmed and completely removed from power, and we need to deal with the out-of-control settler violence that the Netanyahu administration has allowed to take place in the West Bank, and perpetrators of that violence should be sanctioned and criminally prosecuted.” 

Still, Jeffries noted that Israel remains a valuable ally.

“[The Democratic policy approach also includes] recognizing that Israel is an ally of the United States of America in the fight against terrorism, whether that’s Iranian-backed proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas or the Houthis,” Jeffries said.