Can Hakeem Jeffries Save the Democrats?

Is there a place for pro-Israel Democrats in the party’s positions of power? That is the question that surfaces amid the brouhaha over the appointment by the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, of lawmakers Jared Moskowitz, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Wesley Bell to a foreign affairs committee. Mr. Moskowitz will be the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee for the Middle East and North Africa. All of this once would have been routine.No longer. The appointments have been met with howls from those seeking to quicken the transformation of the Democrats into a vehicle for their hostility toward Israel. One of President Obama’s chief advisors on foreign policy, Ben Rhodes, called the assignments “a giant fuck you from Democratic leadership to Democratic voters.” Never mind that Messrs. Moskowitz and Bell and Ms. Wasserman Schultz all won primaries against anti-Israel opponents. Mr. Rhodes, who holds a masters of fine arts in creative writing, adds that “Democratic voters are expected to knock on doors donate, make phone calls, vote, and deliver a majority. And then have their views completely ignored.” He reckons that his party’s “disregard for war crimes and voter concerns could not be clearer” and expresses support for the Jewish state that “is not subtle.” If only the party were as devoted to Zion as he imagines.A similar lament is sounded by a leftist foreign policy hand, Matt Duss. He took a break from defending the antisemitic podcaster Hasan Piker to ask “At what point can Democratic voters finally have foreign policy committee leadership that actually represents the party’s anti-war majority instead of its small and thankfully dwindling hawkish minority?” Messrs. Rhodes and Duss are in a rush to usher in a party that has completely abjured the Jewish state. That reality might not be so far off. David Drucker writes in Bloomberg that Democrats’ “antisemitism problem is veering into dangerous political territory that could eventually cost Democrats Jewish support at the ballot box, to say nothing of the moral implications.” Mr. Drucker reckons that “Tolerance of antisemitism, if not rank Jew hatred, and growing antipathy to Israel” — primarily among young voters — defines this trend.Establishment Democrats are hardly blameless here. Senator Chris Van Hollen, who this week admitted that he is “kicking the tires” with respect to a presidential run in 2028, wrote in the Times in May in support of “withdrawing taxpayer support from Israel and conditioning arms sales.” On Thursday, he launched a fresh effort to scrutinize the recent spate of West Bank violence by Israelis — but makes no mention of violence from Palestinian Arabs. Mr. Moskowitz, who defeated a socialist opponent antagonistic to Israel, says he wants to buck this trend. He vows that “If Democrats take control of the House, I’ll be in a position to help steer US policy on Israel and the Middle East.” He promises to “strengthen America’s relationships with Israel and our Gulf allies, expand regional peace, advance American diplomacy, and ensure our foreign policy is grounded in strength, security, and reality.”Even this cadre of pro-Israel Democrats have indulged in criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a practie we maintain is best left to Israel’s citizens rather than the elected representatives of the Jewish state’s allies. Credit is due, though, to Mr. Jeffries, who it appears is at least trying to stem the tide in respect of the Democrats’ lurch leftward. If voters hand Democrats the House, after all, Mr. Jeffries could find himself paying for that effort.

Can Hakeem Jeffries Save the Democrats?

Can Hakeem Jeffries Save the Democrats?

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