Read DMFI’s New Path Forward HERE
Today, Democratic Majority for Israel released “A Democratic Vision for a Modern U.S.-Israel Partnership,” a comprehensive policy framework built on five pillars: modernizing the partnership to advance American interests, ensuring Israel can defend itself, preserving the path to two states through shared responsibility, building a secure and peaceful future for Gaza, and leading with strength, diplomacy, and democratic values.
A strong U.S.–Israel relationship is vital to our national interests and to achieving security for Israel, self-determination for Palestinians, and stability for the Middle East. The framework assigns specific obligations to all of the parties whose decisions will determine the future stability of the region: Israel, the Palestinians, Arab states, and the United States.
The new framework arrives as the United States and Israel negotiate a successor to the security assistance agreement expiring in 2028, and as Democrats debate the future of the relationship ahead of the next Presidential election. The framework recognizes that the U.S.-Israel partnership has long been a pillar of Democratic foreign policy because it advances American interests and reflects shared commitments to our values of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law.
Among its provisions, DMFI calls for:
- A modernized partnership after FY 2028 built around joint development and production, cybersecurity, missile defense, intelligence cooperation, and other emerging technologies, capable of evolving over time and by mutual agreement toward an increasingly reciprocal relationship centered on joint investment, innovation, and technological advantage.
- Obligations on Israel, including acting decisively against settler threats, intimidation, and violence; preserving the territorial integrity, economic viability, and institutional capacity necessary for legitimate Palestinian governance and eventual statehood; and avoiding policies that weaken the Palestinian Authority or foreclose pathways to a negotiated two-state outcome.
- Obligations on the Palestinian leadership, including rejecting terrorism, supporting the disarmament and removal of Hamas from power, ending pay-to-slay, confronting incitement, reforming educational materials that glorify violence, combating corruption, and building transparent and effective governing institutions, measured against clear benchmarks.
- One Palestinian political framework encompassing both Gaza and the West Bank, capable of eventually supporting a negotiated two-state solution.
- Congressional authorization and oversight when U.S. military force is used.
“DMFI is proposing a vision for the Middle East that a Democratic majority can actually govern with: security for Israel, self-determination for the Palestinian people, and stability for the region, with every party carrying obligations you can name, measure, and verify,” said DMFI President Brian Romick. “Our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad, and we are equally clear that there is no lasting peace without Israeli responsibility and no Palestinian state without credible Palestinian governance.”
Congresswoman Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, praised the newly released policy principles: “The U.S. partnership with Israel is essential to our national security and to advancing peace and stability in the Middle East. DMFI’s policy principles offer a thoughtful and serious vision for strengthening that relationship to meet today’s challenges, while making clear that American interests, Israel’s security and Palestinian self-determination can be advanced together.”
Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) added, “I applaud DMFI’s work to advance a thoughtful and constructive vision for the future of the U.S.-Israel partnership. Especially at this critical moment, it is vitally important to chart a course that strengthens the U.S.-Israel relationship and advances our mutual security interests and shared democratic values. I look forward to working with DMFI and others committed to this effort to help shape that future.”
DMFI is calling on Congress to begin shaping the terms of the post-2028 partnership now, rather than reviewing an agreement negotiated without it, and is urging candidates and members of Congress to adopt the framework as the basis for a Democratic approach to the region heading into 2027 and beyond.
To read DMFI’s comprehensive vision for a modern U.S.-Israel partnership, see HERE.