Sen. Chris Van Hollen used a New York Times essay on May 26, 2026 to tell Democrats their approach to Israel has failed—arguing the party must stop unconditional weapons and money flows, condition support on progress toward a two-state solution, and rebuild cr
Sen. Chris Van Hollen didn’t deliver his warning in a back-and-forth hearing room. He put it in an op-ed on Tuesday. writing that too many Democrats have kept treating Israel’s argument as if it were the whole story—continuing an “unconditional flow of weapons. money and diplomatic support” even as he says Israel’s government and military have “increasingly undermined American interests and values.”.
In the New York Times essay titled “The Hard Truth My Party Needs to Face. ” Van Hollen pressed his party to use what leverage it still has: withdrawing American taxpayer support for Israel and conditioning weapons sales to help move the long-proposed two-state solution beyond what he described as lip service.
He began from a point he said he could not surrender. “To be clear. I support Israel’s need for security.” But he argued that Democrats have accepted Israel’s claim that U.S. weapons are used solely for defense—and he said his party hasn’t fully confronted how. in his view. Israel has used strength “not only as a shield. but also as a sword to bury the two-state solution and advance the far right’s vision of a ‘Greater Israel.’”.
That argument is tied to a grim reality Van Hollen says is becoming harder to ignore. He pointed to Israeli settler and security forces ramping up decades of apartheid in the West Bank. Palestinian land that the International Court of Justice has ruled Israelis illegally occupy. He also said that human rights experts and scholars have widely concluded that Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza and its people amounts to genocide.
In Van Hollen’s telling, the stakes aren’t limited to one battlefield. He wrote that Netanyahu is executing what experts have described as the “Gaza playbook” in Lebanon, and that the U.S. has been “roped” into launching an expensive joint war against Iran that is now flailing.
Throughout the essay, Van Hollen returned to what he sees as the central failure of Democratic policy: the U.S. government’s continued funneling of money and arms to Israel “in the name of protection. ” while also defending Israel’s “clear violations of international law” from efforts at accountability by the United Nations and some Western states.
Van Hollen acknowledged that world leaders have supported a two-state solution for years—and argued that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “violent, extremist government” has made peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine nearly impossible to achieve.
He also took aim at Democratic skepticism when it comes to the political reality of talking about a two-state outcome. He wrote that cynics “rightly” roll their eyes at Democrats who talk about the idea, but he urged the party to make what he called a “last-gasp effort” to salvage it.
If that effort fails. Van Hollen said. the United States will have to consider other options to secure what he called “equal political and legal rights for all.” He warned against two scenarios he described as unacceptable: “either a permanent apartheid state or the expulsion of Palestinians. ” writing that both would produce “unending oppression or displacement of Palestinians. ” “chronic unrest throughout the region” and Israel becoming a “pariah state.”.
The op-ed also carried a direct warning about politics—not just policy. Van Hollen. a long-time critic of Israeli policies toward Palestinians. has criticized both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden for what he called complicity. In his argument to Democrats. he tied the policy dispute to credibility with voters. saying the party has lost trust by facing accusations of hypocrisy and a “blasé attitude toward Israel’s violent behavior.”.
He addressed what he believes Democrats must do to repair that trust. He said Democrats should reject money from the Israel lobby. recognize Palestinian statehood. and withhold offensive weapons until Israel complies with international and U.S. law and agrees to a time-bound plan to end the occupation.
The pressure point isn’t only in what candidates promise. Van Hollen also pointed to party decisions. As of August, he wrote, the Democratic National Committee has refused to endorse an arms embargo.
He framed his warning around the choices primary voters will not forgive—especially if Democratic leaders and candidates have not shown “moral and strategic clarity” on Israel and Gaza.
Van Hollen wrote that “Primary voters won’t trust any Democratic presidential candidate who does not have a record of moral and strategic clarity on these issues. ” especially if a legislator voted to send Netanyahu bombs “even as his government imposed a total blockade on Gaza.” He also warned voters would not support a candidate who. in his view. would “re-enlist the senior Democratic decision makers who whitewashed the truth during the Biden administration and refuse to acknowledge their complicity.”.
A spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For Democrats. Van Hollen’s essay lands at a moment when a crowded field is expected to take on MAGA in 2028—and when he says the party must not only change its position. but regain the trust it says it lost. He wrote that if Democrats want to win the presidency in 2028. they must correct what he described as the party’s failings and be willing to condition support for Israel in order to advance the two-state solution.
Chris Van Hollen Israel Gaza two-state solution Democratic Party Chuck Schumer DNC arms embargo Benjamin Netanyahu West Bank apartheid International Court of Justice