Jeffries opens door to West Bank violence sanctions bill if Democrats win House

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Wednesday that Democrats should consider legislation aimed at curbing violence in the West Bank and sanctioning those responsible if they retake the House in November.The West Bank Violence Prevention Act, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), would authorize sanctions against any foreign individual found to be endangering U.S. national security and “undermining prospects” for a “two-state solution” between Israel and the West Bank “by committing illegal violent acts.”Jeffries told reporters that the legislation has “broad support across the House Democratic Caucus family” and said it is “certainly a legislative step that should be considered in order to push back aggressively against the out-of-control settler violence in the West Bank that cannot continue.” Nadler introduced the legislation in 2025 in response to Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the United States. Nadler accused Ben-Gvir of being an “inciter-in-chief of settler violence in the West Bank.” The bill would codify a similar executive order made by former President Joe Biden that was repealed by President Donald Trump.Jeffries’s statement that House Democrats could take up the legislation comes as Democrats have splintered over support for Israel and a solution in Gaza, particularly on the party’s left flank.Jeffries acknowledged there are a “host of other challenges that need to be resolved in the Middle East” and said a resolution should be “anchored in two different principles.”“One, we support — I support — Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, and support Israel’s ability to live side by side in peace and prosperity with a Palestinian state,” Jeffries said. “And we need to lean into the notion that creating a Palestinian state so that the Palestinian people can achieve the dignity and self-determination that they long deserved needs to be a twin priority, and I think that’s a view broadly shared within the House Democratic Caucus.”The floated consideration of the legislation comes after Jeffries opposed an amendment to an annual foreign affairs spending bill that aimed to cut off aid to Israel back in July, a measure more than 100 Democrats supported. After the vote, Jeffries denied there was tension in his caucus over the amendment.If Democrats win control of the House in November, and Jeffries assumes the speaker’s gavel, he will have to contend with a larger left flank, which vocally opposes Israel, than he currently does.