Source: Politics<\/p>\n
The Democratic Party\u2019s fight over Israel is returning to where it began. Jewish Democrats are warning the results could push them out of the party entirely.<\/p>\n
In Michigan, where grassroots anger over the Biden administration\u2019s approach to the war in Gaza gave rise to the \u201cuncommitted\u201d movement in 2024, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee\u2019s main super PAC, United Democracy Project, has spent a record $30 million \u2014 more than double its next-highest spend ever, according to AdImpact data \u2014 to keep progressive and staunch Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed from defeating pro-Israel Rep. Haley Stevens in the state\u2019s hotly contested Democratic Senate primary.<\/p>\n
And in Missouri, AIPAC is spending $2 million to block Israel-critical Cori Bush\u2019s comeback bid. This comes after the group uncorked $9 million last cycle to unseat her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a high level of discomfort in the Jewish community,\u201d said Sam Lauter, founding member of Democratic Majority for Israel, which has endorsed Stevens and Bush\u2019s opponent, Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), but hasn\u2019t spent money on advertising.<\/p>\n
If El-Sayed and Bush score victories, he said, \u201cit does mean that my community is going to have to reassess how we\u2019re approaching this battle, reassess our role in the party itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s primaries represent a fork-in-the-road moment for pro-Israel Democrats. Groups like AIPAC and DMFI have waded into Democratic primaries this cycle with mixed results. Progressives have scored wins in New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Illinois in part by capitalizing on voters\u2019 negative attitudes<\/a> toward Israel, in some cases toppling longtime incumbents who were more Israel-friendly, while also falling short in some races.<\/p>\n Michigan and Missouri mark one of progressives\u2019 last opportunities to cement a foothold in the party ahead of November. If Stevens and Bell lose on Tuesday, some Jewish Democrats worry their defeats could represent a tipping point for the Democratic Party, completely reshuffling the political landscape ahead of a general-election fight in which both chambers of Congress hang in the balance \u2014 and rendering many pro-Israel Democrats politically orphaned.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes it very uncomfortable for elected Jewish Democrats like myself to wonder, when every other thing is about, you know, Israel and Jews, what’s my place in this party?\u201d said Michigan state Rep. Noah Arbit, founder of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus. \u201cCan I see myself in this party? Can I continue to feel comfortable being elected on the Democratic Party line?\u201d<\/p>\n Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for United Democracy Project, insisted pro-Israel Democrats \u201care here to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not going to let pro-Israel voices in the Democratic Party be silenced,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are going to make sure that pro-Israel voices are heard in the primary process, this year and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n The race for Michigan Senate and Missouri\u2019s 1st District quickly turned into referendums on the party\u2019s once unwavering support for the longtime U.S. ally and AIPAC\u2019s highly controversial interventions in Democratic primaries. Bush\u2019s campaign has accused Bell<\/a> of \u201cabandoning\u201d Missourians and \u201cjetting off to Israel with AIPAC,\u201d while El-Sayed has attacked Stevens for aligning herself<\/a>\u201cwith AIPAC and Republicans to continue to fund a war machine.\u201d<\/p>\n Bush\u2019s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner said the campaign has sought to unify Michigan residents \u201cfrom all walks of life \u2014 across ages, races and faiths \u2014 around getting money out of politics, money back in pockets, and Medicare for All.\u201d<\/p>\n Both races are a callback to earlier fights over Israel that have divided the Democratic Party and that accelerated in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Nearly 60 percent of Democrats believe the party is too supportive of Israel, an AP-NORC survey from June found<\/a>, an increase from 45 percent of Democrats who felt similarly in January 2024.<\/p>\n Bell\u2019s primary win over Bush in 2024 was one of AIPAC\u2019s biggest wins last cycle<\/a>. Israel-critical Democrats in Michigan, meanwhile, hammered Biden and later Vice President Kamala Harris for not prioritizing Gaza<\/a> in their campaigns.<\/p>\n \u201cThat felt like people were upset with the war in Gaza,\u201d Andy Schor, mayor of Lansing, Michigan, and one of the highest-ranking Jewish elected officials in the state. \u201cNow it feels like these candidates are anti-Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Richner countered that El-Sayed \u201chas continuously emphasized the importance of differentiating between criticisms of the Israeli government and Judaism and the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe understands that the fights against antisemitism and islamophobia are intertwined, and as Michigan\u2019s next U.S. Senator, will work to stamp both out,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n The Michigan race also marks a unique litmus test for pro-Israel Democrats in a purple state that is poised to have an outsized role in selecting the party\u2019s next presidential nominee and, eventually, the next occupant of the White House. The Democratic National Committee put forward a proposal earlier this month to make Michigan one of six early contests in 2028<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dennis Bernard, the Jewish Federation of North America\u2019s national chair of government relations, said an El-Sayed victory would be the most compelling evidence yet that \u201cthere is a strong anti-Israel, antisemitic streak within the Democratic Party, and it’s growing, and it’s growing outside of just hard blue states.\u201d Bernard, who has historically supported politicians on both sides of the aisle, is backing Stevens in Tuesday\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n Still, Michigan\u2019s Senate race has divided the Jewish community. Some leading Jewish activists are backing El-Sayed \u2014 including progressive former Rep. Andy Levin, who lost a primary to Stevens in 2022 that was a proxy war between rival pro-Israel groups J Street and AIPAC.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that Abdul El-Sayed feels that he has an opportunity and a responsibility to be a leader in the United States of the movement for Palestinian rights, and so he modulates his politics around this very carefully,\u201d Levin said.<\/p>\n Arbit, the Michigan state representative, said he\u2019s resigned to Israel\u2019s diminishing relevance in the party ahead of the next presidential primary, regardless of how Tuesday\u2019s primaries play out.<\/p>\n \u201cI find it very hard to imagine that we’re going to have a candidate who is quote-unquote pro-Israel. I don’t know how that works,\u201d he said of the 2028 presidential primary. \u201cI just think the party grassroots is so poisoned against the state of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Shia Kapos contributed reporting.<\/p>\n