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The Reality Today Is That Foreign Policy Hawks Are a Minority in the Democratic Party

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16.09.2026

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The Reality Today Is That Foreign Policy Hawks Are a Minority in the Democratic Party

It is damn time we all started acting like it.

What do you do after you’ve just been handed your party’s top position on a key House foreign affairs committee? Obviously, run to the nearest reporter and complain that you’re being treated unfairly.

If that sounds weird, that’s because it is weird. But that’s exactly what Florida Representative Jared Moskowitz, one of the most stridently hawkish members of the House Democratic caucus, did shortly after being elevated to the position of ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs’ Middle East subcommittee. In an interview with the right-wing pro-Israel tabloid Jewish Insider, Moskowitz complained of “bullying” and claimed, “There’s no doubt that the Democrats that are super pro-Israel, in general, feel somewhat ostracized, and how could you not?”

Yes, how could you not indeed, having just received a major promotion?

In addition to Moskowitz, House Democratic leadership also added two other Middle East hawks to the House Foreign Affairs Committee: Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Missouri Representative Wesley Bell, who was the pro-Israel lobby’s chosen candidate to unseat progressive champion Cori Bush in 2024. Progressive Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan was also named to the committee.

If this slate of new members accurately reflected the expressed views of Democratic voters, these numbers would be reversed: Instead of three foreign policy hawks and one progressive, we would’ve gotten three progressives and one hawk (if even that).

Opinion polls have been very consistent on this. A March 2026 Marist poll found 86 percent of Democrats opposed to war with Iran. By June, Quinnipiac found that number had risen to 93 percent of Democrats. A July 2026 AP-NORC poll found that 58 percent of Democrats, including 51 percent of Jewish Democrats, say the United States is “too supportive” of Israel, with 62 percent of Democrats saying the US is “not........

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