MILWAUKEE — The final version of the Democratic Party platform retains the pro-Israel language of earlier versions and sharply criticizes Hamas for starting the current war against Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The program’s promise to continue to provide “iron-clad security” on funding for Israel’s defense assistance – a word President Joe Biden prefers – came after the program committee heard testimony from those who favored maintaining and expanding defense assistance, as well as others who recommended cutting defense aid entirely.
The programme, which has not yet been made public but has been leaked to journalists, was approved by the party’s programme committee. Programmes never commit parties to any action once they are in government, but are still seen as an expression of a party’s values.
“President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris believe that a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is critical to the interests of the United States,” the Middle East section says. “Their commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military advantage, its right to self-defense, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is rock-solid.”
The MOU refers to annual defense funding of $3.8 billion, a then-unprecedented amount agreed to during the Obama administration when Biden was vice president.
The language should allay concerns among some pro-Israel groups concerned about growing calls from some Democrats for a suspension of aid to Israel, but it is unlikely to put the issue to rest. Pro-Palestinian groups have said they will protest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month, where the program must be approved – and may yet be amended.
Pro-Israel Democrats praised the language. “It reflects key elements of the 2020 platform, including reiterating the goal of a two-state solution, opposing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” said the Democratic Majority for Israel, an advocacy group with an affiliated political action committee. “We are confident that Democrats running with it will win the votes of a decisive majority of Americans.”
Jewish Democratic Council of America Executive Director Halie Soifer, one of the witnesses who appeared before the committee, had called for the council’s pro-Israel language not to be watered down. “We are glad that it has not been watered down, but strengthened,” the JDCA said.
The section on the Middle East and North Africa is almost three pages long, which is in contrast to the Republican Party platform, which was reaffirmed this week at the party convention in Milwaukee, where two sentences are devoted to the region.
The war in Gaza gets its own subsection, blaming Hamas for starting and continuing the war. In doing so, the party sides with pro-Israel groups who say the terror group’s responsibility for the carnage should not be obscured by the scale of Israeli retaliation. Pro-Palestinian groups and lawmakers have said the focus must be on ending the war, pointing to the nearly 40,000 Palestinians believed to have been killed so far.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris unequivocally condemned Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7, condemned Hamas’s horrific violence – including conflict-related sexual violence – and made clear that the United States wants to see Hamas defeated,” the platform said.
The program also includes references to Israel critics, pointing to the sanctions the Biden administration has imposed on Israeli extremists since the war began, as well as its efforts to facilitate the delivery of aid to Palestinians in Gaza. It does not criticize Israel for not doing enough to allow the aid, although Biden has voiced such criticism.
