Connie Chan, the US Democrat endorsed by former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to succeed her in California’s 11th congressional district, has called for a “full arms embargo on the Israeli government”. In a televised debate on Thursday night, days before mail-in ballots are sent to California voters, Chan said that “on day one in Congress” she would vote to “end a genocide in Gaza and to end an apartheid state”. Chan, a San Francisco supervisor, faces fellow Democrat and California state Senator Scott Wiener in the race to succeed Pelosi. The former House speaker, 86, is not seeking re-election.
All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are at stake in November’s midterm elections, with both parties vying for control of Congress. While on Capitol Hill, Pelosi long supported Israel, condemning efforts to boycott or sanction the country and voting in favour of military aid. Chan said humanitarian aid must be prioritised and told debate moderators she would not support funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system. Wiener has also described Israel’s assault on Gaza as a genocide and said he would oppose funding for the Israeli military and the provision of bombs or offensive weapons. “This government, and it’s not just [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, is an absolute abomination, in my view, in terms of what it has inflicted on Gaza, in terms of Israel empowering settler violence and land grabs in the West Bank,” Wiener said.
The race comes amid divisions in Congress over US support for Israel. Nearly all Senate Democrats recently backed an unsuccessful effort to require a State Department report on Israel’s human rights practices, including the killings of nine Americans in the occupied West Bank. This week, several House members also introduced the Stop the Settlements Act, which would impose sanctions on individuals and entities involved in building or expanding illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
