Lateefah Simon
Simon co-sponsors the Block the Bombs Act to withhold specified weapons from Israel, voted to block $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel (July 2026), and says the U.S. "cannot be complicit in an endless war." In September 2025 she said "the genocide against the Palestinian people must end."
At a September 11, 2025 Capitol Hill press conference, Simon called for passage of the Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565), which she said "would require the withholding of weapons to Israel and ensure and demand Israel's compliance with both U.S. and international law." She said "the genocide against the Palestinian people must end" and that the Israeli government "uses the access to food as a weapon of war."
In July 2026 she voted against the Republican foreign aid budget bill and said: "I also voted for an amendment to block $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel," adding, "We cannot continue to give military and financial assistance to a government that is not following the Leahy Laws and violating international law." A year earlier, on July 19, 2025, she voted against the Department of Defense funding bill and backed legislation limiting transfers of offensive weapons to Israel that violate U.S. law.
On July 21, 2025, after an attack on civilians seeking food in Gaza, she told KQED that conditions were "devastating, deplorable and unacceptable," that "Gaza is all but leveled. The folks are sick and starving there," and that "we cannot be complicit in an endless war." In February 2025 she welcomed the hostage and prisoner releases and opposed proposals for U.S. ownership of Gaza that would displace more than two million Palestinians, calling those plans "incredibly disturbing and unacceptable."
Tracked votes: opposed sending U.S. weapons or funding to the government of Israel in 1 of 2 recorded votes.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- 2025-07-19 [Current position]: Statement with her vote against the Department of Defense funding bill; supports legislation limiting transfers of offensive weapons to Israel that violate U.S. law. Press release; also profiled by J Street PAC. The DoD-bill vote itself is a badge matter; her statement is what is recorded here.
- 2025-07-21 [Current position]: Called for an end to U.S. military funding and arms transfers to Israel after an attack on civilians seeking food in Gaza, saying the U.S. is complicit by continuing to supply weapons. KQED (KQED verifies the complicity quote and a commitment to vote no on measures funding warfare; the arms-transfer phrasing is the first search’s summary), Al-Quds.
- 2025-09-11 [Current position]: Co-sponsors and advocated passage of H.R. 3565, the Block the Bombs Act: it "would require the withholding of weapons to Israel and ensure and demand Israel's compliance with both U.S. and international law." Press release. A CAIR-SFBA release on the same event would not open.
- 2026-07-15 [Current position]: "I also voted for an amendment to block $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel." "We cannot continue to give military and financial assistance to a government that is not following the Leahy Laws and violating international law." Press release. (The search notes dated this July 15; the release is dated July 15, 2026.)
Characterization of the conflict
- 2025-02-02 [Current position]: Statement welcoming the hostage and prisoner swap and the safe release of Israeli hostages and freed Palestinians. Press release.
- 2025-02-06 [Current position]: Opposed proposals for U.S. ownership or redevelopment of Gaza displacing more than two million Palestinians: "incredibly disturbing and unacceptable." Press release.
- 2025-07-21 [Current position]: "devastating, deplorable and unacceptable"; "Gaza is all but leveled. The folks are sick and starving there"; "We should be listening to the cries of mothers"; "we cannot be complicit in an endless war." Verified against KQED.
- 2025-09-11 [Current position]: Called Israel's actions in Gaza "the genocide against the Palestinian people" and said the Israeli government "uses the access to food as a weapon of war." Verified against her press release.
Rhetoric and lobbying
- 2025-07-19 [Current position]: Criticized bad-faith amendments designed to "weaponize devastating human suffering for politics." Press release, J Street PAC profile.
- 2025-12-17 [Current position]: Warned against political actors pitting Jewish and Muslim communities against each other. MPAC, Union Theological Seminary.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not a weapons or funding position)
- 2025-12-17 [Current position]: Keynote at the Capitol Hill event "Jewish-Muslim Solidarity: Moral Witness in Pressing Times" (Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Muslim Public Affairs Council); called for fighting antisemitism and Islamophobia together. MPAC, Interfaith Alliance.
- 2026-02-26 [Current position]: Virtual opening address for a Jews of Color Initiative gathering at the Magnes Collection, Berkeley, on multiracial Jewish inclusion and Black-Jewish civil rights solidarity. JoCI.
- 2026-03-20 [Current position]: Co-signed a bipartisan letter requesting $1 billion for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to protect houses of worship. Amo release, letter PDF.
Also in this race: Jamie Joyce (Democrat) · All California candidates.
See the full record →But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open the interactive card for votes, funding and contact details.