Divide on Gaza

Wednesday’s Senate votes on Sen Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) that would have blocked specific weapons transfers to Israel crystallized two critical realities within the Democratic Party as well as within the progressive movement more broadly. On one hand, 27 Senators, a majority of Democratic caucus, listened to their consciences and made a historic break with decades of unquestioned US military aid to Israel. On the other hand, a substantial contingent of Democratic senators – some from states with progressive reputations and others who are self-styled progressive leaders – joined every single Republican senator in refusing to challenge the influential pro-Israel lobby.

The bipartisan consensus supporting unquestioned military aid to Israel had so far withheld a real reckoning as Gaza’s civilian population faces staggering devastation – bombed hospitals, restricted humanitarian access, and mounting numbers of civilians killed. Meanwhile, those realities in Gaza have caused a sea change with the Democratic Party’s increasingly justice-minded rank and file.

A Gallup poll from just this month found that a paltry 8% of Democratic voters approve of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, down sharply from 24% in late 2024, reflecting unprecedented disapproval amid mounting civilian casualties and humanitarian suffering. This collapse in support highlights a widening chasm between those Democratic leaders who continue to back unconditional military aid and the overwhelming majority of their base. This stark divide weakens the party as it tries to oppose US President Donald Trump in DC and as it heads into upcoming elections.

How can Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY) lead the Democratic Party against Trumpism if he sides with Bibi Netanyahu’s worst authoritarian instincts instead of with Sens Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and the fight for human rights? How can someone like Sen Cory Booker (D-NJ) give anti-authoritarian speeches about fighting “for the moral soul of the nation” while he votes to keep the US complicit in starving a people and other war crimes? How can Sens Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-Calif) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif) claim to truly represent voters in progressive states like New York and California when they side with the Israel lobby over 90% of their base voters?

As the atrocities in Gaza mount each day, the costs of listening to lobbying groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and aligned hardline organizations are growing. These groups leverage extraordinary financial and institutional clout, but they do so while representing a smaller and smaller subset of the electorate. At the same time, AIPAC has become a Republican dominated and Republican mega-donor funded organization. It is the largest conduit for Republican donors to meddle in Democratic primaries. It’s past time for the Democratic Party to divorce AIPAC and groups like it.

The electoral consequences of backing Israel’s war and oppression are already evident. A YouGov/IMEU survey reveals that nearly one-third of 2020 Biden voters who turned away from former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 cited the Gaza crisis and US policy on Israel as the decisive issue – outranking traditional concerns such as healthcare and the economy.

Excerpted: ‘Narrowing the Democratic Divide on Gaza’.

Courtesy: Commondreams.org