Pro-Israel Democrats expect the party to maintain a unified front that is favorable to Israel throughout the nomination of Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee, eight years after a steaming fissure over U.S.-Israel relations erupted on live TV.
“The platform went through a process, and we wound up with a very pro-Israel platform that reflects the strong commitment of the nominees to the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Democratic Majority for Israel President Mark Mellman said. “This is an ongoing battle, and I don’t expect the other side is going to simply give up, but the reality is: So far, they’ve been defeated.”
President Trump’s policy choices in the Middle East have drawn intense criticism from Democratic lawmakers and alumni from Barack Obama’s administration, but the 2020 platform affirms one of his most dramatic moves: the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It also condemns a movement to boycott and sanction Israel — and convention organizers chose not to give speaking slots to the progressive lawmakers most publicly associated with that initiative.
“I don’t expect that there’s anything that’s going to happen at this convention other than our programming,” Mellman said.
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Some of that controversy already has played out during the platform drafting process. Democratic National Committee power brokers rebuffed a proposal to make explicit reference to the “Israeli occupation” of Palestinian territory to the disappointment of progressive activists and major outside organizations such as J Street. The 2020 draft platform also affirms the party’s commitment to foreign aid for Israel without any reference to using that aid as leverage to change the Israeli government’s posture regarding Palestinian territory.
Still, foreign policy progressives believe that at least some of those ideas are ascendant. “Look then at what’s happening in the Democratic Party on this issue: Uniform opposition to annexation including from pro-Israel members,” Brookings Institution nonresident senior fellow Dr. Shibley Telhami said Monday during a J Street webinar. “And some members of Congress suggesting linking annexation to aid to Israel — not just among the progressives but also among some mainstream members.”
Six House Democrats, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, introduced legislation last week to restrict U.S. aid in the event that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserts sovereignty over land controlled by Israel since the end of the Six-Day War of 1967. Ocasio-Cortez has a Tuesday night speaking slot, making her the only member of the “Squad” who will appear during the convention.
A similar Senate bill offered during a Pentagon funding debate in July is perhaps more telling, in the eyes of both progressive and Republican observers, as the legislation drew support from traditional Democratic leaders such as Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine — the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee — as well as self-described socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“It’s a party that, despite papering over stuff for the political convenience of the platform, is deeply divided as it relates to relations with Israel and the Democratic Party,” said Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks, whose organization plans to spend $10 million “targeting Jewish votes in 2020.”
Brooks emphasized that Sanders received keynote billing for the convention’s opening night and the fact that House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, an Iran hawk whom Brooks described as “one of the most stalwart pro-Israel voices in Congress,” lost his primary to a progressive insurgent last month.
“These are things that we’re gonna see not only in the next couple days but certainly will be a cornerstone of the $10 million campaign effort that we’re doing targeting Jewish voters in 2020,” said Brooks added.
Much of the Israel policy messaging will target conservatives as the RJC seeks to “turn out our base,” Brooks explained. The attempt to split “persuadable” Jewish Democrats from the party will range across other domestic policy issues. “So it won’t be monochromatic in our messaging in terms of just Israeli and foreign policy,” he said.
