The debate within the Democratic Party over Israel could come to a head at the party’s convention this summer, as the party faces deep disagreements over how to approach the ongoing conflict.
Members of the party critical of U.S. support for Israel during its war with Hamas are rallying around a movement to oppose President Biden in the Democratic primary and vote “irresponsible” as a protest vote against President Biden. The movement had some success, winning delegates to a convention in Chicago in August.
Some Democrats fear the conflict will worsen as the party approaches the party’s official platform approval process every four years this summer.
“I think I’d be really surprised if there wasn’t a huge outcry on this issue at the convention. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s much Biden can do between now and then to change this situation. “I think so,” said Heather Gortney, a member of the 2020 Democratic Platform Drafting Committee.
Each party drafts a platform every four years in advance of its nominating convention, after going through an extensive process to set policy on all the important issues facing the country. In 2020, then-candidate Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) launched a series of task forces to bridge the gap between the two factions of the Democratic Party following serious primary contests between the two factions. It was agreed to form a.
From the task force that developed policy positions on the most important issues, the Democratic National Convention appointed a drafting committee made up of some of Biden and Sanders supporters to draft the precise language of the platform. Founded. The committee was made up mostly of Biden supporters, but Sanders supporters also made up a sizable minority.
The committee held several public hearings featuring testimony on its proposal and ultimately submitted the platform to the DNC for final approval at the convention.
But former members of drafting committees from past years say a larger process may not take place in 2024 because Biden faces no serious opposition to his nomination. Ta.
Gortney, who is also a sociology professor at Fordham University, said the Biden campaign may be trying to avoid the “public arena” of internal party opposition over the situation in Gaza, but said there is an opportunity for “gentle discussion” about the situation in Gaza. He said that there is a possibility that it will be provided. Issues that don’t hurt Biden politically.
“I don’t know much about this year because we don’t have Bernie Sanders’ wings this time,” she said. “He’s running uncontested, so there’s no pressure.”
But he noted that Biden has been and will continue to be in a difficult position due to divisions within his party over the Gaza war.
Biden has been under pressure for months to take a cautious response as the death toll rises in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s offensive against the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 people. In a sign of how much intra-party criticism is causing him political headaches, he delivered his sharpest criticism yet of the Israeli government’s handling of the war to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call between the two leaders on Thursday. uttered.
Biden told Netanyahu that U.S. war policy depends on Israel doing a better job of protecting civilians and humanitarian workers. The call came after seven World Central Kitchen employees who were providing food to people in the Gaza Strip were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Many Congressional Democrats have called for conditions on additional aid to Israel to be conditioned on whether it allows for the protection of civilians and the implementation of humanitarian aid. Developing official policy that is acceptable to all levels of Democrats could be a difficult challenge given the divisions within the party.
2020 Democratic Party Platform declared The party expresses its commitment to Israel’s security and right to self-defense, while calling for a two-state solution to the conflict and recognizing “the value of every Israeli and every Palestinian.” The party also said it opposes unilateral measures by either side that “damage the prospects of the two nations.”
Gortney said the 2024 platform could be similar to the 2020 platform, as Biden hasn’t strayed too far from its text, but the focus could be on the state of division rather than the platform itself. He said there is.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a focus on the language of the platform… but I certainly think the convention is a place for people to express opposing views,” she said.
Jim Zogby, who has helped draft numerous platforms over the past election year, said he doesn’t know what the platform’s talking points on Israel will be, but that “it’s pretty much the same as normal practice in the Middle East. He said he expected it to come together.
Zogby, president of the Arab American Association, a civil rights advocacy group that advises on policies affecting the Arab American community, said the administration has not met with the community on policy positions. He said he had spoken with Secretary of State Antony Blinken but not with the White House.
“We continue to expect that they will change their policies, change their language, change their outreach, and make a good faith effort to understand what our concerns are and to respond to them,” he said. “I think November is important. I think it’s important for sound policy as well. But they haven’t shown any inclination to do that right now.”
Zogby said the administration has been in contact with Arab American leaders in various states, but noted that the meetings are more focused on gaining their support than discussing policy.
“People came away from the conference pretty dissatisfied that they wanted to talk about policy, they wanted to talk about a ceasefire, they wanted to talk about aid to Israel. There was no discussion on those issues.” he said.
Mr. Zogby considers himself to be a party of “changing Biden” rather than “abandoning Biden,” but he said of recent developments that the movement to abandon Biden is “gaining more momentum every day” against the president. Quoted and said. sale Transport of F-35 fighter jets to Israel.
All of this will culminate in the platform feeling like “another slap in the face” to those dissatisfied with the government, he said, and could lead to protests at the convention.
“The odds are better that way.” [protests] It’s going to happen, and I don’t think anyone is in a position to stop it. I think it’s a pretty dangerous environment,” Zogby said, referring to the anti-Vietnam War protests that rocked the 1968 Democratic National Convention. “There’s a good chance we’ll see a repeat of ’68 in Chicago, but it won’t be pretty.”
Democratic strategist Jon Reinisch said the intensity of the protests would depend on the current status of the war, but Biden has been in a position to respond to the recent outbreak of protests in the wake of the World Central Kitchen worker’s death. He said he was changing his tone.
“The current strategy has been going on for far too long and no one is winning,” he said. “So [Biden] That’s absolutely right, and I think it’s absolutely right for the party to recognize that and not only promote its allies, but also show its own voters that it recognizes the deteriorating facts on the ground. ”
He said he expected Biden to let the protests continue because he did not say party members shouldn’t voice their opinions. He said while he said the protests taking place at the convention were not necessarily harmful, he saw Biden’s response to these worker deaths as a “huge turning point” that ushered in a new phase of the war. Ta.
“I think if the meaningful facts on the ground are seen properly and communicated properly, it means something,” Reinisch said. “Will it make all the people who are currently protesting on this issue sit down and say, ‘We’re going to put up the bullhorns?'” No, but toward a more acceptable situation. If people see the facts changing on the ground, I think that will change the facts and the level of protest. ”
Laura Kelly also contributed.
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