Jewish Democrats have party loyalties tested in 2024 election

CHICAGO — Steph Newton-Azor, a 34-year-old Jewish Democratic delegate from Albany, Oregon, couldn't believe the things she heard from her progressive friends in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

People she knew her whole life suggested that Israel provoked the attack that killed nearly 1,200 Israeli citizens. Her Jewish friends heard much the same.

"We just didn't know where we belonged," said Newton-Azor, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee Jewish Caucus and a city councilor in her home town. She wondered whether there was "space" for her in the party. "I know that's not true. I know that Jewish values align with Democratic values."

But she said it was "jarring."

"I almost didn't know who to trust," she said.

More: DNC live updates: Tim Walz, Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi set to take the stage

Jewish Democrats have had their party loyalties tested this election year as the left flank's support for the plight of the Palestinians has, at times, seemed to have taken on anti-Semitic undertones in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks and the subsequent Gaza war that's led to an estimated 40,000 Palestinian deaths.

The pushback from the left has been on display during protests at this week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Democrats nominated Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Some Jewish Democrats were disappointed when Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running-mate instead of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and posed a risk in inflaming the left because of his support of Israel and handling of pro-Gaza protests. The Harris campaign has said Walz was picked for his own strengths.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has alleged that Jewish Americans who vote for the Democratic ticket need to "get their heads examined" in a push to court Jewish voters.

More: Trump says Jewish voters who support Biden 'should be spoken to', criticizes Black, Jewish Democrats

'Nice Jewish voter'

At a panel talk Wednesday morning in Chicago hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Jewish Democrats showcased their allegiances with signs that read "proud Jewish Democrat" and "nice Jewish voter." The messages seemed to recognize the tumultuous year it has been for Jewish Democrats.

"So many young activists on the left of the Democratic Party, on the progressive side, use words and terms without understanding what the meaning is of what they are saying," said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president and founder of J Street, a left-leaning Jewish advocacy group that pushes for a ''two-state'' solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

More: DNC comes to 'Little Palestine' as Gaza deaths top 40,000

He said Jewish Democrats must take the position that protesters wearing a keffiyeh, carrying a Palestinian flag or "chanting a stupid slogan" aren't necessarily anti-Semitic.

"What they are is not knowledgeable about the history and the facts," Ben-Ami said. "And our approach to this has to be one of education, not of punishment."

The split among Democrats and progressives over the war in Gaza is partly generational − with even some young Jewish Americans opposing Israel's war in Gaza. The right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has caused some younger Jewish Americans to push back at Israel.

A Pew Research Center poll in March found that 42% of American Jews between the ages of 18 years old and 34 believe the way Israel is carrying out its war against Hamas is "unacceptable." Only 27% of Jewish Americans ages 50 to 64 years old said it is "unacceptable."

Hebrew school and Jewish summer camp, but no longer toeing 'the party line'

Tamara Erickson, a DNC delegate from the state of Washington, is among those Jewish Democrats who have pushed this week in Chicago for an immediate cease-fire.

Erickson, 42, grew up going to Hebrew school, attending Jewish summer camp, and for more than 30 years of her life, she considered herself a Zionist. Then, four years ago, she met a Palestinian woman in an online group for young mothers like herself who changed her perspective entirely.

"As a Jewish Democrat, I'm told that I should toe the party line and support sending unconditional military resources to Israel," Erickson said. "But it's my values, my Jewish values, that affirm the intrinsic worth and equality of all human life and compel me to stand in solidarity with my Palestinian brothers and sisters."

Has Oct. 7 been forgotten?

But Candy Glazer, a Jewish delegate from Massachusetts who is attending her eighth Democratic convention, said she believes there are some within her community – and even beyond – that have forgotten about last year’s devastating attack on Israel and the extended Jewish community.

“I think it's kind of gotten lost, unfortunately, in some of the politics, and unfortunately it was also going on in Gaza as well,” Glazer said.

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, a 60-year-old Jewish DNC delegate from Maryland, said the pro-Palestinian protests at the convention are based on "huge misinformation" that minimizes Hamas' role in the conflict.

"Frankly, a lot of them make it sound like Israel wants to be in Gaza doing what they're doing," Mizrahi said. "They don't even seem to acknowledge or appreciate the significance of what happened on October 7, when there was a massacre of innocent people."

Joel Rubin, president of the foreign policy lobbying firm Washington Strategy Group, said the divide among Jews over support of an Israeli state poses challenges for Democrats.

He said Jewish Democrats have been forced to balance how to appeal to younger Jews who have a negative view on Israel − leaning more into other progressive values such as climate change, protecting abortion rights and supporting immigrants

“Our country is not just Donald Trump. Israel is not just Bibi Netanyahu,” said Rubin, who worked in the State Department during the Obama administration, was the founding political director of J Street, and served as Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Jewish director during his presidential run in 2020.

DNC platform does not support Israel arms embargo

Democrats have sought to use the convention to display a party united behind Harris and not fractured over policy disputes regarding the Middle East.

The DNC adopted a party platform this week that references Israel 29 times, pledging support for military assistance for Israel and a cease-fire to end the war. Both are policies pushed by President Joe Biden and Harris.

The platform did not include an arms embargo for Israel − something that pro-Palestinian protesters have been pushing the party and Harris to support.

Eva Borgwardt, 28, the national spokesman for the If Not Now Movement, a coalition of Jewish Americans who support an end to the war, is among the pro-Gaza protesters in Chicago this week pushing for an arms embargo.

"There needs to be another way," Borgwardt said, adding that Harris has an opportunity to "unify the party around a call for peace" through a cease-fire and by rejecting additional weapons to Israel.

Ann Lewis, a former White House adviser to President Bill Clinton and a Jewish organizer, called the DNC platform "the strongest, clearest, most consistent, pro-Israel platform that the Democratic Party has issued in all the years I can remember."

"And I've been reading a lot of them," she said, "and it came at a time of maximum challenge, of maximum danger for Israel."

'It's been hard,' one Jewish Democrat says

Susan Wagner, of New York City, who serves on the DNC's credential committees, said "it's been hard" to be a Jewish Democrat since Oct. 7. Some of her conservative family members have questioned her support for the Democratic ticket.

She said the Oct. 7 attack and subsequent war has hardened positions on the conflict − that either you're with Israel, including its war in Gaza, or you're not.

"I believe Democrats are good for Israel's long-term security, and I am concerned that Democrats are not given that type of credit within the entire Jewish community," said the 66-year-old Wagner said.

Harris has sought to strike a balance in her Middle East policy: backing Israel's right to carry out the war but criticizing the rising death toll of Palestinian civilians.

Although Harris, like President Joe Biden, has remained steadfast in her backing of Israel, she helped take the lead in the administration's criticism of Israel for the number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza. "Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed," Harris said last December. “Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating."

Harris last month told reporters, "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent."

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, has carved out a role fighting antisemitism, which including releasing the nation's first comprehensive plan to combat antisemitism.

"When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or identity, and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism, and it must be condemned clearly, unequivocally," Emhoff said during his DNC convention address Tuesday night.

More: Antisemitism is everywhere. We tracked it across all 50 states.

Last week, more than 32,000 people took part in a "Jewish Women for Kamala" Zoom call in which participants applauded Harris' efforts to bring home Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza.

"I'm supporting Kamala Harris because her support for us has been unwavering," said Alana Zeitchik of New York, who had six Israeli family members in Israel kidnapped on Oct. 7 by Hamas. Five were returned during a hostage deal last year, but one still remains.

"She has met with other hostage families on many occasions," Zeitchik, 39, said of Harris. "She has listened to our stories, to our demands, and she has continually reassured us that the safe return of our loved one is top priority."

More: Inside an American family's frantic fight to free their loved ones held hostage by Hamas

Jewish Democrats say Trump isn't making inroads

Jewish Americans have historically voted disproportionately for Democrats, and polling suggests they will do so in November despite Trump's efforts. A poll in June from the Jewish Electorate Institute found Biden leading Trump nationally among Jewish voters, 67%-26%.

Quoting a pollster who works for J Street, Ben-Ami said: "The only problem that the Democratic Party has with the Jewish vote is that there aren't more Jewish voters."

Trump has sought to appeal to Jewish voters through his pro-Israel positions, which during his one term in the White House included moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

In the process, he's also insulted Jewish Americans who voted for Democrats, saying they "hate Israel." Trump has called Emhoff a "crappy Jew."

"He's an anti-Semite," said Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. "For the past five years, he has disparaged millions of American Jews. Let's call it like it is."

Trump has proven popular, however, among conservatives and Orthodox Jews, who have applauded Trump for defending Israel.

Although Jewish Americans don't make up a large voting bloc nationally compared to other groups, Soifer said they can make the difference in battleground states with sizable Jewish populations like Michigan, Pennsylvanian, Wisconsin and Georgia.

"We cannot take this for granted," she told fellow Jewish Democrats at Wednesday's meeting. "The Jewish vote is what is going to make the difference in this incredibly close election."

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter @Joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jewish Democrats have party loyalties tested in 2024 election