By Bruce S. Ticker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Stefanie Mendell, a former member of Raleigh (N.C.) City Council spoke for me when she denounced six anti-Israel resolutions passed by the State Executive Council of the North Carolina Democratic Party last June 28.
“I am no longer comfortable being associated with the party,” said Mendell after switching her party affiliation to Unaffiliated. “I feel like they bent over backwards to focus negatively on Israel when there were so many more critical issues that North Carolinians care about -the cost of living, education, healthcare, etc.”
Mendell passed on these sentiments to Peter Reitzes in a recent opinion column in which he recounted how the party’s Muslim Caucus attacks on Israel, while the state party “has been targeting Israel for years.” He wrote, “Many Democrats have left the party over its obsessive focus on Israel.”
Such frustration can only reflect the feelings of American Jews who fall into the center-left category. We mainly vote for Democrats because they consistently press for social reforms while supporting Israel. This allows for legitimate criticism of the Jewish state.
We have reached a point where we cannot trust the Democratic Party to have our backs consistently, and we are threatened with losing Republican friends in Congress on Nov. 3 when Democrats are expected to retake the U.S. House of Representatives and maybe even the Senate.
A heavy proportion of Jewish votes – perhaps averaging 75 percent – have been cast for Democrats over recent decades, at least the last 35 years. Unfortunately, an Israel-bashing faction has been building strength in the Democratic Party, and American Jews have much reason to fear what the party will do with it. The anti-Israel faction assails Israel because it attacks Gaza while ignoring the impact of the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, which took the lives of 1,200 Israelis in southern Israel.
Earlier this week, a so-called progressive won the Democratic primary to run for the House seat vacated by N.J. Gov. Mikie Sherrill. Analilia Mejia will face Republican Joe Hathaway, mayor of Randolph, Morris County, in a special election in April. The district, covering portions of Essex, Passaic, and Morris counties, is regarded as solidly Democratic, which means that Mejia is expected to replace Sherrill.
Mejia, the only one of 11 candidates to call Israel’s response in Gaza a “genocide,” could have been precluded from winning. She defeated Tom Malinowski, a former congressman in a neighboring district, by less than 1,000 votes, with her taking 29 percent and he receiving 28 percent. That leaves more than 40 percent of the vote divided among the other nine candidates in an off-year election with a low turnout.
That’s one for their side, but with such a vote spread, a more centrist candidate can oust her in the future. Part of the credit can go to a PAC called the United Democracy Project, affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The PAC spent at least $2.3 million in an attempt to defeat Malinowski, The New York Times reported.
As a longtime supporter of Israel, Malinowski has said he would not deny Israel what it needs to defend itself, but he would not rule out placing conditions on U.S. aid, according to the Times. PAC spokesman Patrick Dorton said the PAC seeks to elect a pro-Israel majority in Congress, and that it is “not a pro-Israel position” to place conditions on aid.
So now we will likely end up with another anti-Israel House member.
“They could not have gotten a worse result than what they got,” said Alan Steinberg, a New Jersey journalist who was an EPA administrator under George Bush, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I’m a very pro-AIPAC person…but this is one of the worst strategic errors that they could’ve ever made.”
We may not want Republicans to control the domestic agenda any longer, but we do not want to give Democrats a free pass when…okay, or if…they take the House.
At this stage of virulent antisemitism, American Jews can only benefit by saving the political careers of Republican House members who have fought antisemitism. Democrats are expected to flip at least 30 seats. So long as Democrats have the majority, it would be a low risk to vote for an Israel-friendly Republican. We need to move toward selective support for some Republicans.
I live in Northeast Philly, one mile south of Bucks County, where U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is serving his fifth term in his congressional district; his district covers Bucks and a sliver of Montgomery County. Most center-left Jews like myself oppose most of his domestic-policy votes, but he has proven to be a strong supporter of Israel. Bucks County’s growing Jewish community of 50,000-plus comprises 10 to 15 percent of the population.
As for the Senate, the outcome is impossible to predict. Democrats need a net win of four seats to take control. The two most vulnerable Republican Senate seats are in Maine and North Carolina. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who is running for her sixth term, is a strong supporter of Israel who said in one statement, “that the tragedy of October 7 can never be allowed to occur again.”
On the Democratic side, Gov. Janet Mills and an oyster farmer named Graham Platner are the most prominent candidates seeking their party’s nomination. Mills is expected to support traditional Democratic policies without casting sole blame on Israel.
Platner has made an issue of the Middle East war, circulating advertisements that include language such as “there is a genocide happening in Palestine,” “why are we funding Netanyahu’s genocide in Palestine?” and “I won’t kowtow to AIPAC or billionaires.”
It will be insulting if Platner is ever authorized to spew this filth on the Senate floor. I hope Mainers will prevent this kind of scene – even if it costs Democrats control of the Senate.
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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.