Recent progressive wins of outspoken Israel critics in Democratic primaries have generated a lot of optimism. Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for a Senate seat in Michigan after AIPAC and its allies spent more than $54m against him in what came to be the most expensive Democratic Senate primary in US history. In New Jersey, a surgeon named Adam Hamawy, who as a medical volunteer refused to leave Gaza until the last member of his team could evacuate, won a 12-person primary in a House of Representatives race.
Years ago, such breakthroughs would have seemed impossible. For many on the left, it now seems like their hard work at the grassroots level is paying off. And yet, all the talk of a “shift on Israel” within the Democratic Party is premature.
The Democratic establishment remains firmly in the Israeli camp, even if it is striking a more critical tone ahead of the midterm elections. We should not mistake election-season displays of sympathy for a human-rights awakening on Palestine. We have now reached a point where the shift in attitudes towards Israel can no longer be ignored.
A May poll by New York Times/Siena suggested that nearly three-quarters of Democratic voters did not approve of aid for Israel. Another survey by Quinnipiac University showed that 66 percent of Democrats thought the US was too supportive of Israel. A poll published in April by Pew Research found that 80 percent of Democrats viewed Israel unfavourably – up from 53 percent in 2022.
These numbers have made the Democratic leadership realise that open support for genocidaires is becoming too costly politically. Democratic voters, who watched a livestreamed genocide, clearly no longer see Palestine as a secondary issue in their political and moral choices. This awareness has finally come after Democratic leaders spent 2024 attacking students who protested the genocide on campuses across the country.
Prominent Democratic members of Congress called the protest encampment at Columbia University a gathering of “anti-Israel, anti-Jewish activists” and a “breeding ground” for anti-Semitic attacks and demanded that the university dismantle it. Many praised the violent crackdowns on the student protesters. Today, some of these same leaders are striking a conciliatory tone.
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