As the Democratic National Convention progresses in Chicago this week, the question of how the Democrats will address the Israel-Gaza issue remains to be seen. There has been a loud minority of Democrats protesting against the Party’s position on the conflict for months, but if the 2024 Democratic Party Platform is any indication, it appears that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz intend to maintain President Joe Biden’s “ironclad” commitment to the security of the Jewish State.
Israel is mentioned 29 times in the 92-page document that outlines the values and policy priorities of the party as it reflects on the actions of the outgoing Biden administration and charts the goals of the next potential Democratic government.
The 2024 platform, released in conjunction with the start of the DNC on Monday, underscores the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to providing military assistance to Israel, deterring Iran and its proxies from threatening the security of the Middle East, and negotiating a two-state solution that “ensures Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognised borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own.”
The platform also noted the US’s ongoing support for Israel in its fight against Hamas since October 7 while commending the Biden administration’s “real progress” towards establishing a ceasefire in Gaza.
Addressing former President and current Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has attempted to present himself and his party as the pro-Israel choice for voters, the platform criticises Trump’s “fecklessness and weakness in the face of Iranian aggression during his presidency,” especially his “short-sighted decision” to withdraw the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to constrain Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions.
“Iran was abiding by the agreement not to expand its nuclear capacity until Trump’s costly mistake,” the platform adds, stating the Biden administration “continues to manage the fallout” of this decision.
Gaza is mentioned 11 times in the document, which points out the “displacement and death of so many innocent people in Gaza” and Biden’s efforts to secure a ceasefire deal that will include both the return of all hostages and a durable end to the war in Gaza.
The war has divided Democrats, many of whom insist the Biden administration has not gone far enough in condemning Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Delegates from the “Uncommitted” protest-vote movement, which was launched in response to a growing number of Americans’ dissatisfaction with Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war, reportedly “advocated strongly” for the inclusion of a call for an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo against Israel, according to the Forward, though such language ultimately did not make it into the party platform.
Activists protest the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, IL, on Monday, 19 August, 2024. (Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
The document also cites Biden’s opposition to Israeli settler expansion as well as to “any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimise Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement.”
Under a section titled “Combating Hate and Protecting Freedom of Religion,” the platform calls attention to Biden’s “strong and unequivocal” condemnation of antisemitism in the US, highlighting his administration’s release of “the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism” which included, for the first time in writing, “that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related discrimination, including discrimination by national origin, in federally funded programs and activities.”
The section also mentions the Biden administration’s actions to combat antisemitism on college campuses and abroad, including the appointment of Deborah Lipstadt as US Special Envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
With respect to Trump’s legacy of tackling hate, the platform notes that he “rubs shoulders with and encourages white supremacists,” and called openly antisemitic Charlottesville protesters “very fine people.”
Earlier this year, Trump said Jews who vote Democrat “should have their head examined” in response to Biden’s calls for Israel to implement a ceasefire agreement. But American Jews are consistently the most liberal and Democratic groups in the US, according to the Pew Research Center, with seven in ten Jewish adults identifying with or leaning toward the Democratic Party.
