The Democratic Party's Breakup With AIPAC Is Almost Complete

"The October 7 attacks had engendered global sympathy for Israel, and the select number of leftists and pro-Palestine activists who didn't immediately condemn the horrors that day found themselves on the defensive. A few pundits even predicted that anti-Zionist organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America would soon self-destruct. In 2024, the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, a powerful and very wealthy political action committee that intervenes in Democratic primaries against candidates they believe are insufficiently supportive of Israel, helped to defeat progressives in Congress."

"They also helped crush Nina Turner, a top Bernie Sanders ally, in an Ohio House race, and successfully drove progressive Zionist Andy Levin out of Congress. Then there was AIPAC, the seemingly invincible lobbying behemoth that for decades had financially sustained pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans alike. There didn't seem to be much of a political consequence for Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries sharing donors with Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham."

Just two or three years earlier pro-Israel forces appeared able to steer Democratic Party politics for a long time. The October 7 attacks engendered global sympathy for Israel and pressured leftist and pro-Palestine activists. In 2024 the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC helped defeat progressives such as Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, crushed Nina Turner in Ohio, and drove Andy Levin out of Congress. AIPAC historically sustained pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans. By 2026 there are fewer Israel hawks in the Democratic Party; mainstream Democrats increasingly condition military aid to Israel and openly criticize the Netanyahu government. The Gaza war’s devastation and 60,000 deaths have shifted much of the left against Israel and created a lasting generational cleavage.

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