How Will 2028 Democrats Handle the Israel Question?

"Khanna, a progressive California congressman, proudly calls the war in Gaza a genocide and refuses AIPAC dollars. Newsom, the California governor, recently called Israel an apartheid state and said he won't take AIPAC donations either. Pritzker, who is Jewish, voiced support for a Senate resolution that would have blocked American arms sales to Israel."

"What is becoming clear is that the 2028 Democratic primary for the presidency - still, in many respects, embryonic - will not look like any other in the modern era when it comes to how the candidates talk about Israel and the rest of the Middle East. Donald Trump's bombing of Iran and the carnage from the war in Gaza have dramatically reshaped how the American left approaches Israel."

"A new NBC poll showed a stunning 57 percent of Democrats now take a negative view of Israel. Just 17 percent of Democrats sympathize with Israel in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Before then, various other surveys have found younger voters souring on the Jewish state while the smashing mayoral victory of Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim democratic socialist, demonstrated it was possible for a pro-Palestine politician to win over an electorate with a large Jewish bloc."

Democratic politicians including Ro Khanna, Gavin Newsom, and JB Pritzker have reversed their previous pro-Israel stances, now openly criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza and rejecting AIPAC donations. This shift reflects broader changes within the Democratic Party, where recent polling shows 57 percent of Democrats view Israel negatively and only 17 percent sympathize with Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Younger voters increasingly oppose Israel, and the electoral success of pro-Palestine politician Zohran Mamdani demonstrates political viability of this position. The 2028 Democratic presidential primary will feature unprecedented criticism of Israel from potential candidates, marking a significant departure from previous election cycles and reflecting the impact of Trump's Iran policies and Gaza's humanitarian crisis on American progressive politics.

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