After vote to block aid to Israel, Ryan says he doesn’t want AIPAC backing – Daily Freeman

KINGSTON, N.Y. — U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan said in a social media post that he knows his vote to block $3.3 billion in U.S. aid to Israel is likely going to cost him the support of AIPAC.

But, he said, it doesn’t matter.

“I expect groups like AIPAC will not support me in my future elections and frankly, I don’t want their support,” said Ryan, D-Gardiner, in a social media post Wednesday. “Hardline stances that refuse to stand up to a corrupt and increasingly dangerous Netanyahu regime have no place in our politics,” referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In an exchange on X, Ryan said he doesn’t want the organization’s endorsement and will be “returning the funds” he has received from it.

According to the Federal Election Commission, during the 2025-26 campaign cycle, Ryan received $264,958 in contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee political action committee and individuals donating funds “earmarked by AIPAC.”

Ryan, D-Gardiner, was among more than 100 House Democrats to vote Wednesday in favor of an amendment to the fiscal 2027 funding bill for the State Department and national security that would have prohibited funds from the bill from being used for Israel and reduced the Foreign Military Financing program by $3.3 billion, matching the amount that would be designated for Israel.

In a statement late Thursday, Ryan said he voted to block the funding “because I can no longer support sending billions of taxpayer dollars to fund Netanyahu’s increasingly corrupt and dangerous government given its actions.

“It was a decision I do not take lightly and was based on what I believe is best for our community and our country,” he said.

Although the final 104-314 vote was not enough to attach the amendment to a broader national security spending bill, it stands as a stark accounting of the shifting attitudes that are dividing the Democratic Party and the nation over Netanyahu’s war strategy, now approaching its third year.

It also comes at a time when Democrats are fighting to regain control of Congress and when Ryan faces a challenge to his re-election bid from Republican Jackie Auringer.

Ryan won re-election in 2024 with the help of the Hasidic community in Orange County, particularly from the Satmar sect in Palm Tree, and primarily as a result of his support for Israel, which he has repeatedly called an “ally.”

As recently as August, Ryan cosigned a letter to Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter that declared  “steadfast … support of Israel’s right to defend itself,” even as they called on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Asked Thursday whether he was concerned his vote would affect the Jewish community’s support for him, Ryan said his decision came after “countless conversations with constituents… on every side of the issue.”

“This vote does not represent an abandonment of the state of Israel or the Jewish people. It does not deny the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization. It does not neglect the profound grief of October 7th, nor the devastation in the years that followed.”

Representatives of Palm Tree did not return a call for comment Thursday.

In a statement late Thursday, Auringer accused Ryan of changing his position based on political expediency and said his reversal reflects “a larger pattern of making strong promises when they are politically useful, then abandoning them once the political winds shift.”

“Pat Ryan can call it whatever he wants after the fact,” Auringer said. “The vote is the vote. He voted for a broad cutoff of military assistance to Israel, and no amount of explaining it away after the fact changes what the amendment actually did.”

“This isn’t a coincidence, and it isn’t a change of heart,” Auringer said. “Pat Ryan has his eye on higher office, and he knows he can’t get there without the radicals in the DSA. So, he’s doing what ambitious politicians do he’s making himself useful to the people who can get him his next job.”

Ryan rejected Auringer’s contentions, saying his vote represented a “reset” and an opportunity to “step back and rebuild toward a better future for Israelis, Palestinians, and the Middle East and to send a message to Netanyahu’s government that the status quo is unacceptable.

“I stand ready to work with an allied Israeli government that recommits itself to democratic values and meaningful progress toward a two-state solution,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.