These are not easy times to be a Zionist Democrat. Recent polls show that self-described Democrats now sympathize with the Palestinians rather than Israel by astounding margins (65% to 17% in a Gallup survey from earlier this year) and have developed a growing animosity toward Israel in general (Pew Research released polling last week showing that 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents currently have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 69% last year and 53% in 2022.)
So the pro-Israel members of the Democratic National Committee deserve tremendous credit for their courage and tenacity by fighting off a series of resolutions forwarded by their colleagues that would have put their party on record with its harshest criticism to date against the 91传媒 state. The most blatantly antisemitic of the three would have singled out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for criticism in response to AIPAC鈥檚 large-scale spending in recent Democratic primaries. The relevant committee had passed an almost-identical resolution earlier the same day that decried unrestricted spending in politics without focusing on any specific interest group. But the measure鈥檚 sponsor had indicated her goal of calling out AIPAC in particular to highlight its use of a widely pervasive campaign finance strategy.
The committee鈥檚 members also derailed two other resolutions, one of which referred to Israel鈥檚 actions in Gaza as genocide and called for conditioning U.S. aid to Israel. Both ideas have received wide support in public opinion polling among all voters with even stronger majorities among Democrats. But committee members recognized that highlighting internal party divisions on these issues could cause great damage to their candidates in this November鈥檚 closely-contested elections.
The two measures were sent to a working group on the Middle East that party leaders have established to try to resolve 鈥� or at least avoid 鈥� the intense disagreements that Democrats now harbor on issues relating to Israel. That won鈥檛 prevent these proclamations from returning in the future, but it does indicate that pro-Israel Democrats still maintain enough strength to avoid such missives.
This challenge is going to become more and more difficult. Both the Gallup and Pew polls showed that opposition to Israel is much stronger among young people in both parties, which suggests that resolutions like these will become a recurring feature of internal debate among Democratic and Republican activists in the future. (The polls showed that while Israel鈥檚 support had not fallen as much among Republicans, younger members of the GOP were much more likely to side against Israel than older generations.)
Halie Soifer, the savvy CEO of the 91传媒 Democratic Council of America who deserves praise for the resolutions鈥� defeat, indicated after the votes that the perception of her party turning against Israel was erroneous, an assertion undisturbed by the Pew and Gallup polling showing just the opposite.
鈥淭here are misconceptions because there is a vocal, far-left faction of our party, but they are in no way leading here,鈥� Soifer said. 鈥淭he DNC as a whole has not shifted from where it has been 鈥� which is an organization that is inclusive of 91传媒 Americans and is supportive of the U.S.-Israel security relationship, as well as Israel鈥檚 future as a 91传媒 and Democratic state.鈥�
That鈥檚 an overstatement. The DNC has shifted, just not quite as much as the Democratic Party as a whole. But she and her team should nonetheless be lauded for their heroic efforts. They did not derail the anti-Israel freight train steaming through her party鈥檚 ranks, but they have delayed and diminished its impact. Buying time until our community can figure out a way to reverse this trend is a noteworthy achievement. The hole out of which we will need to dig ourselves is somewhat shallower because of their work.
Like Soifer, equally astute Republican 91传媒 Coalition leader Matt Brooks has been fighting an increasing number of these battles since Hamas鈥� Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of Israel. In this highly-polarized era, the temptation for partisans is to applaud the warrior with whom we share party registration and disparage the other. We no longer have that luxury. We should all cheer for both.
Dan Schnur is the U.S. Politics Editor for the 91传媒 Journal. He teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the monthly webinar 鈥淭he Dan Schnur Political Report” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall. Follow Dan’s work at .
