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Top Democrat Adam Smith Calls for ‘Leveraging’ Arms Sales to Israel
US Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, speaks during a virtual interview from his office. Photo: Screenshot
US Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has called on the Trump administration to consider halting certain offensive weapons sales to Israel in order to pressure its government to change course in the war in Gaza.
In a sweeping statement on Tuesday, the Washington Democrat said Israel must “implement a ceasefire in Gaza and massively increase the flow of humanitarian aid,” halt settlement expansion in the West Bank, and take “serious steps to reduce the violence there.”
“If Israel does not take these steps, I believe 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 taking these actions,” Smith said.
While affirming his support for Israel and its right to defend itself, Smith argued that Israel’s military campaign has reached diminishing returns against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas after months of fighting.
“Right now, it is impossible to see how further military action in Gaza could degrade Hamas’s capabilities to any appreciable degree further than what has already occurred,” he said. “Six months of war since the end of the last ceasefire has done nothing to bring the hostages home.”
Smith acknowledged that he has opposed using US military assistance as leverage in the past but said shifting conditions in the Middle East, including the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and setbacks for Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, have created a moment where Israel could accept such pressure without jeopardizing its security.
“These are very positive developments that might not have happened if the US had reduced its support to Israel prior to them occurring,” Smith said. “But these developments also mean that Israel faces little if any risk to its security if the US blocks the sale of some weapons now.”
At the same time, Smith expressed concern that international criticism of Israel has too often failed to hold Hamas accountable, which he argued has encouraged the terrorist group to prolong the conflict. Still, he argued, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the absence of a path to freeing hostages necessitates a new approach.
“It is time to pressure Hamas by working with alternative Palestinian leadership to rebuild Gaza and give the Palestinian people some hope for their future,” Smith said. “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.”
He also warned that Israel risks “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” if the war continues without an end in sight.
Smith emphasized that his criticism of Israel’s conduct should not be confused with calls to delegitimize the Jewish state. “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,” he said.
The Washington Democrat’s remarks mark one of the most forceful calls yet from a senior member of Congress to use US military aid as leverage over Israel, underscoring a growing debate within the Democratic Party about Washington’s role in the conflict.
As the war in Gaza grinds on, support for the Jewish state has cratered among the Democratic base. According to recent polling, 67 percent of Democrats (compared to 14 percent of Republicans) say
that Israeli military actions in Gaza constitute either “genocide” or are “akin to genocide.” The same poll, released this week by the University of Maryland Critical Issues series, found a significant partisan divide, with 63 percent of Democrats saying the Trump administration’s policy is “too pro-Israel,” compared to 57 percent of Republicans who say it’s “about right.”
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.