Growing socialist influence among Democrats could undermine long-standing bipartisan support for Israel, according to Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), who is retiring after more than a decade in Congress and more than 20 years in public service.
“I think that people need to wake up to the fact that this kind of stuff is becoming—I won’t say mainstream, but certainly it’s becoming more prominent, at least in Democratic circles,” Newhouse told JNS in the Cannon House Office Building, part of the U.S. Capitol complex, on Wednesday.
“Elections have consequences,” the congressman said. “We’ve been reminded many times.”
Born in Sunnyside, Wash., in 1955, Newhouse graduated from Washington State University with a degree in agricultural economics. His father served in the state legislature for 34 years.
Newhouse served in the state House and as the state’s head of agriculture. He won his seat in Congress in 2014.
Throughout his House tenure, Newhouse, 70, has been a reliable supporter of Israel. He backed emergency assistance after Oct. 7, co-sponsored a House resolution affirming U.S. support for the Jewish state in the days after the attack, repeatedly supported U.S. security assistance to Israel and advocated continued American engagement with Israel and America’s European allies.
“Not only do we need to stand up for Israel, I think we need to strengthen our presence in Europe, as well,” he told JNS. “I hope we don’t need to be reminded by events in the future of why we are where we are in Europe today.”
The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks “horrified” the congressman and “confirmed my support for Israel, to make it stronger than ever,” he said.
“Oct. 7 was a horrendous day in Israel,” he told JNS. “That should illustrate to everybody who’s paying attention that the challenges the state of Israel faces are as real as ever.”
He added that Israel’s security is personal for his family, because his wife, Joan Galvin, whom he married in 2018, is “of Jewish descent.”
“I think we somehow need to get back to where we, as a nation, are all out in support,” he said. “I’m really concerned that we find ourselves in this place that many Americans are even questioning why we’re supporting Israel.”
Newhouse told JNS that he had just been to Poland, where he visited a museum that commemorated families who hid Jews during the Holocaust.
“I think these newer generations either don’t believe it happened or it’s not a big enough issue to them to really, truly get why our United States policy has been so strong for Israel and why it should continue to be,” he said.
Newhouse warned that voters should be concerned about more than anti-Israel Democratic Socialists of America candidates running as Democrats.
“We have some issues on the Republican side that we have to address, as well,” he told JNS. “Whether it’s America First and not getting engaged in these forever wars, I’m very concerned about some of the direction my own friends and colleagues on my side of the aisle are starting to say.”
A farmer, Newshouse wore his signature cowboy boots during the interview. He said that he will be returning to his 600-acre farm in Sunnyside.
“I’m not retiring,” he said. “Farmers don’t retire.”
His advice for the American people as he steps back from public service?
Americans should remember that “Israel and the U.S. stand together,” he told JNS, and should “truly search deep inside themselves on the importance of standing together, because there are evil forces standing against us.”
