"The war in Gaza has done a lot of visible damage to the Democratic Party's once-unconditional support for Israel. For a while, Joe Biden held back the tide of Democratic anger against Israel's conduct of the war via a combination of support for its right to self-defense in the wake of Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks and increasingly vocalizing (if not all that effective) calls on Israel to display more humanitarian concern for civilian life."
"Elected officials have often followed rather than lead the rank and file. Senator Bernie Sanders was once a lonely figure calling for cancellation of offensive weapon sales to Israel. By this April, 14 other Democrats joined Sanders in an arms-cutoff bid. And then in July, 27 voted for a ban on assault-weapon sales and 24 for a ban on bomb sales."
Democratic support for Israel has weakened sharply as the Gaza war intensified. Joe Biden balanced backing Israel's right to self-defense after Hamas's October 7 attacks with calls for greater humanitarian concern for civilians. Kamala Harris maintained a similar stance with somewhat more willingness to criticize. Donald Trump's return to the presidency and supportive posture toward Netanyahu emboldened Democrats to express strong disapproval. Progressive leaders, led by Bernie Sanders, pushed to cancel offensive weapon sales, drawing additional Democratic support through spring and summer votes to restrict assault-weapon and bomb sales. Polling showed large Democratic majorities favoring an end to arms support and labeling actions in Gaza genocidal.
Read at Intelligencer
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