- Syontoni Hattori-Chatterjee | Staff
- Sep 23, 2026 (DailyCal.org)
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi discussed her evolving stance on Israel’s war in Gaza, stating that “in life the people you trust the most and love the most can disappoint you the most.” Syontoni Hattori-Chatterjee | Staff
This past Monday, House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi reiterated her “love” for Israel while expressing concern about Israel’s genocide in Gaza at a guest-speaking event for University of California Washington Program, or UCDC, students.
Pelosi will launch the Nancy Pelosi Institute in partnership with UC Berkeley in January. Pelosi said the institute will encourage campus students to become involved in public policy around questions of democracy and diversity.
Pelosi discussed her evolving stance on Israel’s war in Gaza, stating that “in life the people you trust the most and love the most can disappoint you the most.” She contextualized her position by discussing the 1940s congressional tenure of her father, whom she described as a “champion for Israel” because of the affinity between Italian Americans and Jewish Americans in her hometown of Baltimore.
“That’s how we were raised about loving Israel, loving Israel, establishing a state of Israel, loving Israel, loving Israel, loving Israel,” Pelosi said.
The former speaker’s comments came in response to a question about her and the Democratic Party’s perspective on the geopolitical outlook in the Middle East. Pelosi called Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack “horrible” and Israel’s response in Gaza “disproportionate.”
In September 2025, a United Nations legal analysis found that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians during its war on Gaza.
Nevertheless, Pelosi said she disliked statements by “the candidate in Michigan,” likely referring to Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, an outspoken advocate for Palestine. The former speaker still maintained that differences between aspiring Democratic Party officials and current elected officials “are not dividing us completely.”
“Based on the Democratic Party’s loss, you would think the party would at least make their campaigns, agenda and PR comments a bit more conscious of the relentless and indiscriminate bombings in Palestine — war crimes, in other words,” said UC Berkeley student Gabriela Parada Ramirez, who attended the event. “However, based on Pelosi’s responses to student questions about Gaza, they seemed watered down without any regard for the unprecedented killing on Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government.”
A UCDC student in the audience asked Pelosi if polls demonstrating that young people are “far more critical of what’s going on in Israel and Gaza” motivated her House vote to reduce military funding to Israel, which Pelosi earlier described as a “departure” from her previous support for U.S. military aid to Israel.
Pelosi answered “No,” stating that pro-Palestinian sentiment among young people “had existed for a while.” The former speaker shared that her support for the Leahy laws, which ban selling weapons to actors violating the human rights of others, informed her decision. “We’ve been sending stuff in violation of that for a while, and then it was just like no,” Pelosi replied.
“But in our caucus, it’s been very prayerful, very thoughtful about supporting Israel. We’ve always had a little tension because some people were way over there; we were sort of in the middle,” Pelosi said. “We love Israel. We love Israel. We love Israel, but we want some balance in all of this.”
Campus junior Ananya Bamidipati was excited about the opportunity to hear from a well-renowned political figure, but felt that Pelosi’s comments were “unfocused” and did not demonstrate tact toward her student audience.
“The message that I got out of it at the end of the day was that it was anti-war,” said UC Irvine student Angela Liao. “It’s important to realize that and not get lost in the ‘I love Israel’ — the whole scheme.”
Ramirez was unsurprised by Pelosi’s persistent expression of support for Israel because of the “concerning” amount of lobbying funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in U.S. politics.
According to Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, a group that tracks lobbying activity from groups supporting Israel, Pelosi has taken $188,554 from pro-Israel political action committees as of Aug. 2.