Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. The Democratic Party is having a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to Israel. It seems like just yesterday, supporting Israel was a no-brainer for Democrats, but now it’s a hotly contested issue. The party’s primaries on August 4 in Michigan and Missouri will be a big test of how this debate plays out. I mean, can you believe that arguments about Israel are a major dividing line in the Michigan Senate primary between centrist Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed? It’s like the party is trying to figure out who they are and what they stand for.
The debate over Israel has marked a sharp dividing line in both the Michigan Senate primary and a Missouri rematch between firebrand former US Rep. Cori Bush and Rep. Wesley Bell. While Stevens and Bell largely defend the existing US security partnership with Israel, El-Sayed and Bush denounce it. I’m not sure what’s more surprising, the fact that this is an issue or the fact that it’s become so polarizing within the party.
For years, critics of Israel like Bush and El-Sayed were largely marginalized in the Democratic Party. But the party’s primaries this year have demonstrated an explosion of frustration among rank-and-file Democratic voters over Israel’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and elsewhere under long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s like the party is finally listening to the voices that were previously ignored.
The intensity of the backlash against Israel has rapidly reset the terms of the Democratic debate. Only two years ago, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris refused to allow a pro-Palestinian activist to speak from the podium at the party’s national convention. Today, Democrats are debating not whether, but how extensively, to reconfigure American policy toward Israel and the Palestinians. It’s a seismic shift, to say the least.
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a group that supports Israel but often criticizes its right-leaning leadership, says the change is seismic. “This is an unbelievably fast shift. We are witnessing in real time a total remake of the politics of the Israel relationship.” I couldn’t agree more; it’s like the party is trying to find its footing on this issue.
The rising attention to Israel in Democratic primaries this year is directly related to the precipitous decline in the nation’s image with the American public since its ferocious response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack. In polling by the Gallup Organization, the share of Americans who expressed a favorable view of Israel plummeted from 75% in 2021 to 46% in 2026. That’s a 29-percentage point decline, which is comparable to some of the greatest collapses in American attitudes toward any foreign nation in modern times.
The Michigan Senate primary will test the power of the strategy to criticize US deference toward Israel. El-Sayed, a charismatic campaigner, vehemently denounces Israel as a “rogue state” practicing “genocide and apartheid” and calls for not only ending the $3.8 billion in annual US military aid but also blocking further sales of American weapons. Stevens, on the other hand, has criticized Netanyahu but rejects both of those policy changes. It’s going to be an interesting race, to say the least.
The primary between Bell and Bush next month will mark the next big test in these House contests. Bush, a grassroots activist, and Bell, at the time a city council member, both emerged from the protests that engulfed Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting of Michael Brown, a young black man, in 2014. Bell unseated a long-time White incumbent to win election as the St. Louis County prosecutor in 2018; two years later, Bush ousted a Black incumbent and then won election to the US House. It’s a rematch, and it’s going to be a tough one.
In conclusion, the Democratic Party is at a crossroads when it comes to Israel. The debate is heated, and it’s not going away anytime soon. With the primaries in Michigan and Missouri just around the corner, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. One thing’s for sure, though: the party’s stance on Israel is no longer a given. As I always say, you can’t make this stuff up – the drama, the intrigue, the politics. It’s like a never-ending soap opera, and I’m here for it. Bless their hearts, indeed!
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
