More Lawmakers Than Ever Are Supporting Accountability For Israel

 

By:  Bryan Bowman and Greg Williams; written for FCNL’s (Friends Committee for National Legislation) “This Week in the World” Oct. 2, 2026

 

In a historic vote this week (Editor's Note:  this was written three weeks ago), more senators than ever before supported legislation seeking to hold the Israeli government accountable for violence and human rights violations against Palestinians.

In a 47-51 vote Tuesday, nearly all Democrats and Republican Rand Paul (KY) voted to require the State Department to investigate the killings of U.S. citizens and broader human rights abuses in the West Bank.

While the resolution was narrowly rejected, the vote marks another hopeful milestone toward accountability. In 2024, a similar resolution received just 11 votes.

If passed, the resolution would have been the first step in a process under the Foreign Assistance Act to restrict weapons transfers over the Israeli government’s failure to comply with human rights obligations.

Since 2022, nine U.S. citizens have been killed by Israeli settlers or security forces in the West Bank. Their families have waited years for answers – yet not one of these killings has resulted in meaningful accountability or justice.

This week’s vote also comes amid a broader, unprecedented surge in West Bank violence as the Israeli government allows extremist settlers to attack Palestinian communities with impunity.

“It is our responsibility to ensure recipients of US taxpayer dollars act in line with our laws and our values – this resolution was an opportunity to shed light on a reality that flies in the face of that principle,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (MD), who led the resolution.

FCNL led a coalition letter supporting the resolution with more than 30 national faith and advocacy organizations. The letter was covered in a syndicated TV news story featuring FCNL’s Hassan El-Tayyab that was aired by local news channels around the country.

FCNL will continue to build on the growing support in Congress to end U.S. complicity in attacks against civilians – in the West Bank, Gaza, and beyond.

This week, we joined more than 50 faith and human rightsgroups urging Congress to block a major new transfer of U.S. bombs to Israel planned by the Trump administration. “Failing to do so would amount to a blank check for further catastrophic harm and human rights violations,” as our letter warns.

 

Bryan Bowman is Social Media and Communications Strategist at FCNL (Friends Committee on National Legislation), and Greg Williams is Senior Director of Publications at FCNL.