Matt Continetti was the founding editor of the Washington Free Beacon and is the author, most recently, of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism (2022). In his capacity as a columnist for the Wall Street Journal’s Free Expression newsletter, Matt contemplates the transformation of the Democratic Party into an anti-Israel coalition. Matt writes:
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The Senate’s anti-Israel roll call included every type of Democrat except for the sui generis Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.): moderate and progressive, insurgent and stalwart. Presidential ambitions drove Sens. Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.), Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.), Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) and other potential 2028 candidates into [Sen. Bernie] Sanders’s corner.
The question facing the Democratic primary electorate won’t be whether a candidate opposes Israel but how vehemently. California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he never has and never will accept money from American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he’d block weapons sales to Israel. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has falsely accused Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The changing party dynamics are most visible in Michigan. At a Democratic convention last weekend, Kamala Harris, who during the 2024 campaign refused to meet with Israel’s prime minister in public, blamed the Jewish state for America’s war with Iran. President Trump “got pulled into it by Bibi Netanyahu, let’s be clear about that,” Ms. Harris said to applause.
After criticizing Operation Epic Fury for endangering American lives and raising gasoline prices to levels not seen since she was vice president, Ms. Harris indulged in conspiracy theory. She said Mr. Trump’s running conflict with Iran over its nuclear program “has always been his feeble attempt to distract from the Epstein files.”
Michigan Democrats also heard from Abdul El-Sayed, a Sanders-endorsed anti-Israel physician tied for the lead in the state’s Senate primary. Among Mr. El-Sayed’s supporters is Hasan Piker, a streamer known for such vile assertions as “America deserved 9/11,” the collapse of the Soviet Union was “one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century,” and “Hamas is a thousand times better than a fascist settler colonial apartheid state.” Campaigning alongside Mr. Piker this month, Dr. El-Sayed said, “I’m not here to disavow people’s views.”
Perhaps because he shares them. While condemning a Hezbollah-inspired terrorist attack on Michigan’s largest synagogue in March that injured a security guard and endangered the lives of preschoolers, Dr. El-Sayed drew an equivalence between the perpetrator and the Israel Defense Forces and said, “Hurt people hurt people.” Recently Dr. El-Sayed told CNN that Hamas and Israel are both evil.
At the state convention, Michigan Democrats ditched University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker, who is Jewish, and nominated anti-Israel activist Amir Makled for the board instead. Mr. Acker supported disciplining anti-Israel student protesters. Mr. Makled had recently deleted social-media posts praising Hezbollah and amplifying antisemitic podcaster Candace Owens. For Michigan Democrats, punishing disruptive Hamasniks is inexcusable; cheering Hezbollah is studiously overlooked.
There is something deeper going on here than a fight over foreign policy. Democrats may be repulsed by Israel’s behavior, but this is really an argument over America. The connection between socialism and anti-Zionism is revealing: Increasingly, one’s attitude toward Israel and its self-defense reflects one’s attitude toward America—its free market, its global leadership, its use of force and its exceptional nature.
The two democratic nations have special roles in the world. They share interests—and adversaries, most notably radical Islamists pursuing nuclear weapons. Supporters of Israel are supporters of America, and vice versa.
Some Democrats understand the peril of abandoning longstanding commitments for grassroots enthusiasm and social-media buzz. The stakes aren’t only electoral. They are moral. “If it’s what’s necessary, I’ll be the last Democrat standing with Israel through this,” Mr. Fetterman told CNN recently. He is fighting an uphill battle for his party—and fighting it alone.
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