Alaska’s closely watched Senate race, which will help determine the balance of power in the Senate, is set to pit a consistent — if rarely prominent — Democratic supporter of Israel against a prominent Republican national security hawk. Unlike in some other battleground races, the issue of Israel has rarely come up in the campaign. 

Peltola was not a leader on Middle East policy issues during her time in the House and did not highlight it as a priority, but was generally a reliable vote in support of Israel, breaking on numerous occasions with the majority of her party on the issue.

Peltola’s campaign did not provide comment in response to repeated inquiries from Jewish Insider about whether her stance has changed since leaving the House. But she has said she opposes the Iran war, and would have voted with nearly all other Democrats for war powers measures that sought to force a halt to the war.

“Dan Sullivan voted for the Iran war 12 times,” Peltola said on X on Thursday, highlighting the impact the war has had on rural Alaska communities. “Alaskans are suffering because Dan Sullivan continues to rubber stamp an unpopular foreign war that’s causing energy prices to skyrocket. We need change.”

Peltola was one of just 46 House Democrats who voted in February 2024 in favor of a stand-alone Israel aid package — separate from the bipartisan package that also provided aid for Ukraine and Taiwan — and one of just 16 who voted for a measure that would have forced the Biden administration to proceed with arms sales to Israel that had been withheld.

Peltola also voted for various measures imposing strengthened sanctions on Iran and severely limiting the Biden administration’s ability to lift such sanctions, some of which were opposed by a majority of Democrats. She also was in favor of imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court.

She voted for a resolution describing anti-Zionism as antisemitic, for a measure calling for the firing of university presidents for their testimony on campus antisemitism, for the Antisemitism Awareness Act and for a resolution describing the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic — though she voted against censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for using the phrase.

Peltola also voted against a measure — that became increasingly unpopular among Democrats — which would have allowed the Treasury Department to unilaterally revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofits it deemed to be supporting terrorism.

Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been more deeply involved in national security issues, and has been a prominent supporter of Israel and a hawk on Iran.

Sullivan has been a frequent leader on legislation and other efforts to support Israel, including serving as a lead co-sponsor in 2025 of the U.S.-Israel Defense Partnership Act, to expand and increase funding for cooperative defense programs and the Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025, targeting parties involved in the Iranian oil trade.

Among other policies, Sullivan has distinguished himself with yearslong calls, in both interviews and hearings with senior military officials, for the U.S. to retaliate against the Iranian military directly for Houthi attacks on American and commercial shipping, dating back at least to mid-2024.

“My view is, at this juncture, the only way to deter the Houthis is to make Iran pay the price. We should sink all their spy ships who probably helped with this attack,” Sullivan told JI at the time. “We should tell them we’ll sink your whole Navy if you continue this. We have the capacity to sink the Iranian Navy [within] two hours, and we just let the Houthis attack us, attack Israel.”

He has traveled to Israel and the Middle East repeatedly, including at least three times since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. He joined a bipartisan delegation to Saudi Arabia and Israel weeks after the attacks, which aimed to salvage progress toward the Abraham Accords.

Sullivan has proven willing to press Trump administration officials at times, having delivered a particularly tough grilling of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby during his 2025 confirmation hearing over Colby’s past accommodationist rhetoric on Iran.

Though he ultimately supported Colby’s confirmation, Sullivan, joining other Senate Republicans, later accused Colby of avoiding the congressional communication and collaboration he had promised during his confirmation proceedings. But he and other senators have said the situation has improved since they aired their concerns publicly.

Sullivan supported the 2024 supplemental aid package for Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies.