“I’ve given to the DNC, the Democratic Party, all the committees for years,” one longtime Jewish Democratic donor told the Washington Examiner, speaking on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss political giving. “But this year is the first time I am ending my donations. I’m just so worried with what I’m seeing with these extremist candidates coming out of primaries that are openly antisemitic and anti-Israel.”

Instead, the donor said he plans to support moderate individual candidates, citing Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) as an example of someone he views as an ally to Israel.

Michael Baer, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based independent voter and pro-Israel advocate, said that distinction is widespread among pro-Israel Democrats he engages with.

“I wouldn’t give a penny to the party,” Baer said. “The only way people will regain that trust is to actually see the Democratic Party control these fringe elements that are anti-Zionist and promoting conspiracy theories and outright lies about Israel.”

Baer said some longtime Democratic supporters have already stopped giving to the party, while others are waiting to see whether Democratic leaders confront what they view as an increasingly influential anti-Israel faction. Even so, Baer said abandoning the Democratic Party altogether would be a mistake.

“The most important message right now for pro-Israel Jews is don’t give up on the Democratic Party yet,” he said. “It’s too early to surrender and run away.”

That donor pullback comes as the Democratic National Committee grapples with mounting financial strains ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Recent Federal Election Commission filings show the Republican National Committee reported roughly $129 million in cash on hand, while the DNC carried a negative balance after taking out a $15 million line of credit backed by its Washington headquarters. The committee remains roughly $2 million in debt, with Republicans also maintaining cash advantages at both the House and Senate campaign committees.

DNC Chairman Ken Martin has defended the committee’s balance sheet as a deliberate strategy. In a Substack post, Martin wrote that Democrats made a “conscious decision” to invest in “electoral assets” rather than stockpiling cash. He added that the DNC has performed “exceptionally better with high-net-worth donors” than at comparable points in prior election cycles, arguing its success should be measured by “power built, not simply dollars retained.”

That defense is echoed by some prominent Jewish party leaders who continue to invest heavily in the DNC. Lazar Palnick, a DNC and National Finance Committee member, wrote to the Washington Examiner that he recently wrote a check to max out his personal contribution to the DNC’s general fund.

“As a proud Jewish American, DNC Member, and National Finance Committee Member, I can say with confidence that the DNC has strong support among the Jewish community,” Palnick said, speaking in his personal capacity. “While our party is working through some complex policy issues, the reality is that Democrats are the only party that are fighting for a better, more just, and more equal America, values deeply aligned with Judaism.”

Directing dollars to candidates, not the party

The financial divide between the DNC and its battleground candidates highlights a sharp shift in how Jewish donors are wielding their political capital. While national party committees struggle under debt and cash deficits to the GOP, individual Democratic campaigns in high-stakes races are posting record-breaking totals.

“The DNC is struggling. The party institution is struggling. The rest of the party is not struggling,” said Jon Reinish, a veteran Democratic strategist, partner at Mercury Public Affairs, and former senior aide to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

Reinish noted that while individual candidate campaigns remain flush with cash, the ideological rift over Israel and antisemitism is severing the party’s traditional funding pipeline.

“As antisemitism rises its head in way too many quarters on the Left, of course, that’s going to be deeply disquieting and deeply upsetting to Jewish donors,” Reinish said, pointing to progressive candidates aligning with controversial online commentators as a primary driver of donor skepticism.

“Don’t sit there and tell me that this is a critique of Bibi Netanyahu and of Israel’s government,” Reinish added. “When you have significant people left of center, including candidates for major Senate seats, sitting with Hasan Piker, that’s a big problem. If the party is going to depend in no small part on those 50% of donors that are Jewish, you are going to have a problem when you are rubbing shoulders with antisemites.”

Steve Schale, a Florida-based Democratic strategist, cautioned against viewing Israel as the sole cause of the DNC’s financial slump, pointing out that out-of-power parties often face a broader “crisis of confidence” without a sitting president or clear 2028 nominee. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that candidate stances on Israel are now front and center in donor meetings. 

“One of the very first questions I’ll get is, ‘Who are the candidates, and can we count on them to believe that Israel has a right to exist?'” Schale said. He warned that bypassing central committees could have consequences down the road: “I worry about long-term infrastructure the party needs to build. I worry about things that don’t get funded because we’re not raising the money.”

Feeling politically adrift 

For many Jewish Democrats, policy debates over Israel have become increasingly difficult to separate from personal safety concerns and broader anxieties about where they fit within the party coalition.

What was once viewed as one of the Democratic Party’s strongest areas of consensus has fractured into one of its most contentious internal debates. From battleground House races to high-profile Senate primaries, candidates are being forced to define themselves by their stances on Israel and the war in Gaza.

The ideological divide has become starkly visible on Capitol Hill, where nearly half of House Democrats recently voted to cut off U.S. aid to Israel. Public opinion within the coalition is shifting as well: An April Pew Research Center survey found that 60% of Americans now view Israel unfavorably, up from 53% a year earlier, with the sharpest increase occurring among Democrats and younger adults.

These national tensions are playing out vividly in key 2026 battlegrounds. In Michigan, Abdul el Sayed’s victory in the Democratic Senate primary despite more than $30 million in spending by the pro-Israel group United Democracy Project, an AIPAC-affiliated super PAC, has intensified debate over Israel, antisemitism, and the direction of the Democratic Party. The race became a proxy battle over the party’s ideological divide, with some longtime Jewish Democrats warning they were reconsidering decades of party loyalty over el Sayed’s sharp criticism of Israel. Several Jewish community leaders told the Washington Examiner they may consider supporting Republican Mike Rogers in the general election.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, warned the party against driving away a constituency that has long been central to its success. “Pushing us out of the party … is a dangerous thing, but it’s also really bad for the party,” Nessel told the Washington Examiner. “If Jewish voters leave the party, they won’t easily be replaced.”

These political debates unfold alongside a rising wave of antisemitic incidents across the country. Recent high-profile attacks, including the stabbing of a Jewish man in Manhattan, an assault on a Jewish couple in Santa Monica, California, swastika vandalism in New York, a firebombing attempt at a Michigan synagogue, and the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C., have left many communities on edge.

“There are many Jews across the United States who feel politically homeless right now,” said Josh Kramer, president and CEO of Ohio Jewish Communities and former director of the American Jewish Committee in New York. “People want to know the candidates and causes they support stand with the Jewish community when it matters and demonstrate moral clarity on issues affecting Jewish safety, which includes Israeli safety as both our close ally and home to half the world’s Jews.”

However, other prominent Jewish leaders reject the idea that anti-Israel sentiment defines the party’s mainstream. Michele Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, noted that while disagreement exists, core party alignment remains intact.

“As an observant Jew, there is no question to me that Democratic values align most closely with my Jewish values,” Taylor said. “There are some loud voices within the party with whom I strongly disagree, but they are a minority, and I refuse to allow those few to stop me from supporting our party or from feeling I have a place within it.”

Taylor, who has spent decades advocating globally against antisemitism, added that she remains confident in the party’s foundation: “I’ve spent decades advocating at the U.N. and elsewhere to crack down on antisemitism, and I know that the Democratic Party takes that mission seriously. I am proud to have supported the DNC financially at such a critical moment for our nation, and I know countless others across the Jewish community who feel the same.” 

A test for Democrats’ fundraising machine

While some Jewish donors say Israel has reshaped how they approach political giving, Democratic strategists caution against viewing the issue as the sole explanation for the DNC’s financial struggles.

A longtime Democratic strategist with experience at the DNC, speaking on background to discuss internal party dynamics candidly, noted that while post-election slumps are routine, this cycle’s deficit is unusually persistent.

“Historically, the months immediately after a losing presidential campaign are tough,” the strategist said, explaining that fundraising typically bottoms out after a loss before rebounding. “But what is different this time is it’s not rebounded.” 

The strategist noted that donors are increasingly demanding direct commitments from individual candidates rather than giving to broader institutions. “What I hear instead is just stronger interest in candidates making that commitment,” the strategist said. “People want clarity in their giving, and they have confidence in the candidate and not, in this case, in the committee.”

Republicans, meanwhile, see an opportunity to expand their coalition. Sam Markstein, communications director for the Republican Jewish Coalition, said his organization is actively courting disillusioned Democrats, pointing to figures like former Bernie Sanders supporter Shabbos Kestenbaum as evidence of a broader realignment.

“Every year or so, we feature former Democrat Jews who are now either changing their affiliation to unaffiliated or are supporting Republicans,” Markstein said, adding that many express a shared sentiment: “‘I’ve had enough of the party, and we’re coming over to the Republican side because the party left us.'”

However, Democratic fundraisers emphasize that donor frustration with national party committees has not translated into a systemic drop in overall grassroots giving for individual candidates.

ISRAEL BECOMES DEMOCRATS’ ABORTION-STYLE LITMUS TEST

Sam Jacobson, founder of Digital Strategy Group, said digital fundraising for candidate campaigns remains strong, driven heavily by opposition to President Donald Trump.

“In a midterm with Trump as president, it’s probably better than it’s been because of the resonance of the anti-Trump message … the anger is just so intense,” Jacobson said. He noted that while Israel remains a vital concern for specific donor segments, anti-Trump motivation continues to drive high-volume digital contributions across the broader Democratic base.

Still, rebuilding the party’s relationship with high-net-worth donors who fund long-term national infrastructure will require deliberate effort. As the anonymous Democratic strategist noted, midterm enthusiasm for individual candidates won’t automatically fix the DNC’s balance sheet. 

“I don’t see that people wake up the next day [after the midterms] and say, ‘Oh, all right, we can give to the DNC again,'” the strategist said. “I think the DNC and many of these committees, for a set of reasons, is going to have to earn confidence back. Some of that traces back to Israel and how they address antisemitism.”

David Sivak contributed to this story.