45 Senate Democrats Tell Netanyahu to Rein In West Bank Settler Violence

Forty-five of the Senate's 47 Democrats signed a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, August 26, demanding action on what they call a "significant surge" of settler violence in the West Bank, according to Reuters. The letter, drafted by Senator Adam Schiff of California, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, was reported with slightly different signer counts. The Straits Times cited 45 signatures, while Reuters' own wire copy as carried by Internazionale cited 42. Both trace to the same letter and the same reporting chain.

The senators pointed to nine American citizens killed by settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank since 2022, and asked Netanyahu to order clear instructions to police and military to intervene in violent confrontations "regardless of the perpetrators," according to Reuters. They cited a specific incident last week in which an Israeli man guarding settlers opened fire on Palestinian civilians, killing a 17-year-old and a 70-year-old, according to officials cited by Reuters.

The letter also calls on Israel to halt new settlement approvals and "illegal outposts" and to begin removing existing ones, per the same reporting. Israeli officials have said the country's leadership, including the president and prime minister, have repeatedly condemned violence against Palestinians, Reuters reported. Separately, Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan's official Senate website confirms she joined Schiff and the broader group in pressing Netanyahu on the same issues, framing it as protecting American citizens abroad.

A Parallel Move in the Senate

The West Bank letter isn't the only Democratic pressure campaign running this week. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland plans to introduce a resolution invoking the Foreign Assistance Act to force the State Department to produce a formal accounting of Israel's human rights record in the West Bank, according to Political Wire, citing the New York Times. That's a distinct legislative track from the Schiff-Schumer-Booker letter. A resolution could force an actual floor vote versus a letter asking for policy changes. Both moves reflect the same underlying frustration, but sources do not indicate the two efforts are coordinated as a single strategy.

The Bigger Political Fracture

Conservative commentator Victor Davis Hanson, writing for The Daily Signal, argues Israel has become an obsessive target in a way no other country in the region receives. He notes Israel remains the only genuine democracy among 18 Middle Eastern nations and the only one where gay, trans, and apostate citizens can live and speak openly without fear of state violence. Hanson points to polling showing pro-Israel sentiment among Democrats has fallen from around 80% to 60% overall, with roughly 80% of Democrats now viewing Israel unfavorably, and argues that no Democrat critical of Israel currently faces a real primary threat in blue states, while pro-Israel Democrats increasingly do.

That claim about the political mechanics is Hanson's characterization, not an independently verified fact in these sources. The underlying trend it describes—rising Democratic skepticism of Israel—is evident in what's happening on the Senate floor this week. Nearly the entire Democratic caucus is signing onto direct criticism of Netanyahu's government, something that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

On the other side of that divide, a letter published in VT Digger argues that criticism of Israel's conduct is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. The writer contends the U.S. is "lawfully obliged" under the Foreign Assistance Act to stop providing Israel weapons given what the writer calls a "consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights." The writer cites the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry's finding that Israel's conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide. That is a real UN commission finding, but it is a conclusion by one UN body, not a settled legal determination, and it is contested by the Israeli government and disputed internationally. Gaza health officials, cited by Reuters, put Palestinian deaths in the war above 73,000. Reuters notes the war began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and saw more than 250 people taken hostage.

Unresolved Questions

The letter is a request, not a binding action. It carries no enforcement mechanism, and Reuters reports that many Democrats have separately called for either significantly curtailing or completely shutting off billions of dollars in annual U.S. military aid to Israel — a step the letter itself does not address. Van Hollen's resolution, if it advances, would force a vote on requiring the information disclosure. Reuters notes President Trump "has said little" about the West Bank situation specifically. Whether Netanyahu's government changes enforcement policy in response to a letter signed by senators from the opposing party in a Republican-controlled Washington is an open question.