{"id":2385916,"date":"2025-01-03T06:06:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T11:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/will-kamala-harriss-middling-israel-support-be-a-high-water-mark-for-democratic-presidential-nominees-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-01-03T06:08:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T11:08:55","slug":"will-kamala-harriss-middling-israel-support-be-a-high-water-mark-for-democratic-presidential-nominees-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/will-kamala-harriss-middling-israel-support-be-a-high-water-mark-for-democratic-presidential-nominees-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Kamala Harris\u2019s middling Israel support be a high-water mark for Democratic presidential nominees? &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwill-kamala-harriss-middling-israel-support-be-a-high-water-mark-for-democratic-presidential-nominees-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2385916&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the implications of Vice President kamala Harris&#8217;s political stance on Israel and its impact on the Democratic Party as it\u2063 prepares\u200d for future elections,\u200c particularly the 2028 presidential race. It highlights the challenges faced by Democrats \u2063due to internal divisions\u200d over support for Israel, especially in light of the recent israel-Hamas conflict, and growing pressures from the\u2063 party&#8217;s \u2063progressive base. <\/p>\n<p>Post-election analyses point \u200bto important losses for Democrats in the 2024 elections attributed to \u2062public concern over inflation, immigration, and Harris&#8217;s inadequate appeal to voters. As Democrats navigate their stance \u2062on Israel, the article poses critical questions about the party\u2019s alignment \u2063with\u2064 its activist base versus maintaining broader support for Israel, which \u2063remains prevalent among many\u200c Democratic voters.<\/p>\n<p>Harris&#8217;s comments during a debate, attempting to balance support for\u2063 Israel\u2019s self-defense with criticisms of its military tactics, have drawn scrutiny from both \u2062sides of the debate. Some party members \u2064assert that Democratic support\u2064 for Israel remains strong, citing a detailed party platform and dismissing allegations of declining support.Conversely, others point to mixed signals from the party&#8217;s \u2064recent \u200belectoral \u200doutcomes, where anti-Israel figures have faced defeats, yet pro-embargo senators have ascended in party leadership.<\/p>\n<p>The article concludes by suggesting that the upcoming elections\u2064 may challenge the Democratic Party&#8217;s identity and cohesion regarding its position on Israel, especially as it prepares for leadership transitions in the wake of Biden and Harris&#8217;s tenures.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Will Kamala Harris&rsquo;s middling Israel support be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unstable-non-genius-biden-aides-feared-cranky-candidates-epic-tongue-lashings-book-finds\/\" title=\"UNSTABLE NON-GENIUS: Biden Aides Feared \u2018Cranky\u2019 Candidate\u2019s \u2018Epic Tongue-Lashings,\u2019 Book Finds\">high-water mark<\/a> for Democratic presidential nominees?<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1909621\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Campaign postmortems show <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Democrats&rsquo;<\/a> big 2024 election losses were spurred by voter angst over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inflation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">stubbornly high prices<\/a>, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-border-standoff-desantis-demands-reinstatement-of-trump-border-policies-to-lift-block-on-facilities-accepting-bidens-migrant-children\/\" title=\"Exclusive \u2014 Border Standoff: DeSantis Demands Reinstatement of Trump Border Policies to Lift Block on Facilities Accepting Biden\u2019s Migrant Children\">lax immigration enforcement<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">President Joe Biden<\/a>&lsquo;s administration and his late-season replacement as the party&rsquo;s White House standard-bearer, Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The economy and immigration policy will soon be the problems of President-elect Donald Trump and the fully Republican Congress already in power. Yet Democrats face a lingering problem as they try to regroup ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and 2028 presidential race &mdash; having to appease the party&rsquo;s hard-left activist base, particularly over the Israel-Hamas conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats&rsquo; growing criticism of Israel&rsquo;s prosecution of the war, together with the party&rsquo;s seeming inability or unwillingness to tamp out often violent and disruptive campus protests against the Jewish State &mdash; and Jews &mdash; leaves open the question of how Democrats intend to include Israel in their revamped policies, messaging, and branding since <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">public opinion polls consistently show strong voter support<\/a> for the nation.<\/p>\n<p>With Biden&rsquo;s exit from the political stage and Harris&rsquo;s losses across all of the battleground states, there is no heir apparent, or even a front-runner, as the seemingly endless presidential campaign cycle starts to rev up for 2028. It all raises a notion long thought unthinkable in many circles: Will the Democrats elevate a presidential nominee who is, at best, indifferent to Israel&rsquo;s plight? Or even actively hostile?<\/p>\n<p>The matter came to a head for Harris once she took over as Democratic nominee, about ten months after the Oct. 7 attacks, which resulted in about 1,200 Israeli deaths and around 250 people taken hostage. Almost immediately, hard-left activists vocally blamed Israel for civilian casualties in Gaza amid its defensive war against Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>Harris effectively tried to split the difference.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself,&rdquo; Harris said in her only debate against Trump. However, she added, &ldquo;How it does so matters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That caveat seemed to imply Israel was at least partly to blame for military tactics in a surprise attack launched by Hamas against civilians. Harris&rsquo;s approach didn&rsquo;t end up satisfying either side, Israel supporters or its harshest critics. It raises the question of whether the next Democratic presidential nominee can ignore anti-Israel sentiment by the most fervent supporters in the party&rsquo;s base, who reliably show up to vote for its candidates and work in the political trenches to get them elected.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Israel still has many Democratic supporters<\/h2>\n<p>Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, disagreed that the party&rsquo;s support for Israel is dwindling.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we saw tempering even in this past election cycle,&rdquo; Soifer said in an interview. &ldquo;And no, I don&rsquo;t believe there will be tempering in the future.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Soifer, who was a national security adviser to Harris when she was a Democratic senator from California, pointed the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> to the party&rsquo;s adopted platform this summer. It&rsquo;s far more detailed on the matters of Israel and antisemitism than the more cursory platform Republicans adopted, said Soifer.<\/p>\n<p>Some House Democrats say there&rsquo;s no fall-off in support.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;People have to understand that the vast majority of the Democratic Party stands with Israel,&rdquo; Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA) asserted to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;I have no doubt that the pro-Israel vast majority of our party will rise for the next presidential election.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), co-chairman of the House Abraham Accords Caucus and staunch pro-Israel congressman, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, &ldquo;I have no doubt that support for Israel will always be bipartisan and always be strong.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), a pro-Israel House mainstay and former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident we&rsquo;re going to have a strong pro-Israel candidate in 2028 because the Democratic Party is strongly pro-Israel.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lingering questions about Democratic support for Israel<\/h2>\n<p>However, Democrats of late have sent conflicting messages.<\/p>\n<p>On one hand, its voting base sent a pair of virulent anti-Israel House members packing in primary elections &mdash; Outgoing Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO). Both members blamed the pro-Israel lobby. Bowman additionally blamed Jewish voters in his former district, covering southern Westchester County.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was soundly defeated last month by party colleagues in her upstart bid to serve as the top Democrat on the prominent House Oversight Committee. The progressive star and feature member of the &ldquo;Squad,&rdquo; a group of House members ranging from Israel-hostile to outright anti-Israel, lost resoundingly to the more senior Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA).<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, internal elections lifted to positions of leadership five Senate Democrats who voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders&rsquo;s (I-VT) Israeli arms embargo resolutions. That&rsquo;s nearly half of the Senate leadership team and includes Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), its second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-kamala-harris-ends-french-diplomatic-foray-with-a-little-shopping\/\" title=\"Watch: Kamala Harris Ends French Diplomatic Foray with a Little Shopping\">highest-ranking member<\/a>. Sanders, though not a Democrat himself, was elected outreach chairman.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) will be the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) holding his party&rsquo;s top spot on the subcommittee on the Middle East. Both voted for an Israel arms embargo.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the nation&rsquo;s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, faces increasing pressure. Some sections of the Jewish community feel he turned their back on them in search of political expediency. Schumer has received loud boos and taunting at mainstream American Jewish events in recent months.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And there is the lingering sting of Harris turning down popular Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), who was a possible 2028 presidential candidate, as her running mate, with accusations from across the political spectrum (and credit taken by some on the far left), that she made the choice based on Shapiro&rsquo;s pro-Israel positions and Jewish faith. The Harris campaign vehemently denied the accusations, as did Shapiro.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Looking ahead to 2028<\/h2>\n<p>As for the still-forming 2028 crop of Democratic candidates, there&rsquo;s every reason to believe they&rsquo;ll back Israel, said Soifer.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We do have a strong bench of leaders. All of them could make for very strong candidates for president &mdash; many of them currently serving as governors &mdash; and all of them are strong supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro is among those who are seen as possible 2028 contenders, as well as Govs. Wes Moore (D-MD), Andy Beshear (D-KY), Gavin Newsom (D-CA), and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI).<\/p>\n<p>However, that&rsquo;s a long way away, and no Democrat the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> spoke with was willing to opine on the shaping of the next election.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Mellman, the Democratic strategist and pollster who heads the Democratic Majority for Israel advocacy group, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> he believes party leadership understood that an anti-Israel message was not a winning one politically in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After my discussions with leaders since the election, I came away confident that they will be paying less attention to the fringes of the party going forward,&rdquo; Mellman said.<\/p>\n<p>When asked how that can be, given that so many who have been staunchly critical of Israel retained or were elevated in their positions, Mellman cited House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who maintains a loyal grip while consistently supporting Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<p>He also pointed to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who was recently elected to the Democratic Senate leadership team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Booker voted against all three resolutions, as did Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), another rising star in the party, who told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that night that if those who sided with Sanders against Israel &ldquo;want to go down in flames, then that&rsquo;s their choice.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>However, Sam Markstein, national political and communications director for the Republican Jewish Coalition, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that Democrats are &ldquo;certainly on the precipice&rdquo; of possibly nominating an anti-Israel candidate at the top of the party.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to the leading candidacy of Wisconsin party Chairman Ben Wikler for the national party chairman. Wikler recently told <em>Jewish Insider<\/em> that the party should have invited a representative of the anti-Israel Uncommitted National Movement to speak onstage at this past summer&rsquo;s national convention, all in the name of party unity.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Joe Biden, for all of his faults and disagreements that we have with him on the policy side of things, he at least had a 50-year or more track record&rdquo; of supporting Israel, said Markstein. &ldquo;So, he kind of had that built-in well of support.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>Mike Wagenheim is a senior U.S. correspondent for the i24NEWS television network, covering U.S. government, diplomacy, religion, business, and culture<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1909621\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1909621\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will Kamala Harris&#8217;s lukewarm support for Israel set a precedent for future Democratic nominees?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3557,"featured_media":2385917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/your-land-chicago-teachers-union-israel-zachary-faria-120424C1-1024x591.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[47816,47815,32438],"class_list":["post-2385916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-democratic-nominees","tag-israel-support","tag-kamala-harris"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/your-land-chicago-teachers-union-israel-zachary-faria-120424C1-1024x591.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2385916"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2385920,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2385916\/revisions\/2385920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2385917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2385916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2385916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2385916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}