U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a newly released interview that he no longer supports automatically renewing the 10-year, $38 billion memorandum of understanding that guarantees U.S. security assistance to Israel. The agreement, negotiated by the Obama administration in 2016, is due to expire in 2026. Buttigieg told the “Pod Save America” program that future military aid should be contingent on Israel meeting humanitarian and strategic conditions tied to the ongoing war in Gaza. His comments mark a departure from his 2019 presidential-primary stance, when he described the U.S.–Israel relationship as an unqualified “friendship.” The remarks underscore a wider shift among Democrats as the civilian toll in Gaza mounts and party activists press elected officials to attach stricter human-rights criteria to U.S. assistance. Progressive lawmakers, including members of the party’s left wing, have already introduced legislation aimed at conditioning or reducing aid, but Buttigieg is one of the most prominent Biden administration officials to signal openness to that approach.