Democrats Need to Understand That Opinions on Israel Are Changing Fast [View all]

I think this piece in the NYT reflects where we are as a political party today. It’s mostly about changing views of Israel, but it also focuses on why Democratic voters are disillusioned with our leadership today. A majority of Democratic voters want to condition military aid on Israel’s behavior toward Palestinians. Our leadership professes full support for Israel with no conditions, which is just one reason for voters feeling that leaders are ignoring them. From the article:

“Only one in three Democrats now view Israel favorably, according to Gallup. That makes Israel significantly less popular than Cuba, and only slightly more popular than China. Despite this, the party’s most powerful figures — from the minority leaders Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries to many of the Democrats likely to run for president in 2028 — oppose conditioning U.S. military support on Israel’s willingness to uphold human rights. This places them in clear conflict with their party’s base.

Support of Israel isn’t the primary reason that, according to Reuters, 62 percent of Democrats want new leaders. What seems to anger grass roots Democrats most is their party’s inability to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box and stand up to him as president. But unquestioned support for Israel has become, for many, a symbol of the timidity and inauthenticity of party elites — and that leaves them vulnerable to political insurgents who don’t compromise the values of equality and anti-discrimination. That’s how Mr. Mamdani connected his support for Palestinian freedom to his broader message. “This is a politics of consistency,” he told Politico in April. “And it’s a politics that refuses to equivocate, no matter whom it applies to. That every single person deserves a dignified life.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/opinion/zohran-mamdani-democrats-israel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UU8.ZTQG.e0PIoWD_Kolk&smid=url-share