This week will go down in history as a time when the governing body of the Democratic Party had a chance to oppose the U.S. government’s arming of Israel. But with the first Democratic National Committee meeting in seven months now underway, the DNC’s leadership seems determined to derail a resolution calling for “an arms embargo and suspension of military aid to Israel.”
Maneuvering to sidetrack that resolution, DNC Chair Ken Martin and all five vice chairs are sponsoring a counter-resolution that does little more than repeat the kind of hollow rhetoric that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris offered about Israel and Gaza last year.
Martin and the vice chairs “have aimed to blunt the power of the resolution on Gaza by introducing their own, watered-down resolution that stops far short of calling for an end to arms shipments to Israel,” my RootsAction colleague Sam Rosenthal pointed out. It’s an approach that helped to defeat the Democratic ticket last year, as polling clearly shows. Recycling it now is even more oblivious to the roar of public opinion.
But the half-dozen top DNC officers appear eager to scuttle the arms-embargo resolution as fast as possible without having to vote on it themselves. If the Resolutions Committee rejects the resolution today, as appears likely, it won’t proceed to the entire 448-member DNC for a vote.
But the half-dozen top DNC officers appear eager to scuttle the arms-embargo resolution as fast as possible without having to vote on it themselves. If the Resolutions Committee rejects the resolution today, as appears likely, it won’t proceed to the entire 448-member DNC for a vote.
This seems to explain the response from DNC Vice Chair Shasti Conrad a few days ago, when I asked whether she would cosponsor the arms-embargo resolution. “I haven’t decided,” she replied. “[I will] probably see how the committee votes and the discussion, and will make a real time decision.” Waiting to “see how the committee votes” is a way to stall until the resolution is no longer on the table.
A different but no less evasive response came from the most powerful DNC vice chair, Jane Kleeb, who is also the president of the Association of State Democratic Committees, which includes the nation’s state party chairs and bills itself as “the only national party organization focused exclusively on the current and future needs of State Democratic Parties.” When I asked Kleeb whether she supported, opposed or was neutral about the arms-embargo resolution, she would only say: “I’ve sponsored a resolution on Gaza with other officers. I hope everyone comes to the table with agreed-upon joint language.”
Martin and his allies have already tried — and failed — to drastically weaken the arms embargo resolution. Its sponsor is a new DNC member from Florida, Allison Minnerly, who is 26-years-old. On her way to Minneapolis for the meeting, Minnerly told me that while she wasn’t opposed to the possibility of accepting amendments to her resolution, it must “keep the core message.”
The resolution’s core message — “an arms embargo and suspension of military aid to Israel” — is exactly what has provoked such strong opposition from the DNC leadership. In sharp contrast, the counter-resolution from party leaders doesn’t even lightly criticize Israel for its methodical large-scale killing of Palestinian people, which is now in its 23rd horrendous month.
Just days ago, the Guardian reported that “figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.”
The official estimate of the carnage in Gaza — 60,000 direct deaths, including 18,500 children — is very likely a significant undercount. Meanwhile, by providing upwards of 69% of Israel’s arms imports, the United States has been making it all possible.
Martin and three of the DNC vice chairs — Pennsylvania state representative Malcolm Kenyatta, attorney Reyna Walters-Morgan in North Carolina and Nevada-based labor advocate Artie Blanco — did not respond to repeated requests for comment on whether or not they support the arms embargo resolution.
Along with backing from all the vice chairs, Martin’s counter-resolution got some outside help in the drafting process. “This resolution was crafted with the input of Democratic Majority for Israel, a group whose super PAC worked to oust former Representatives Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush,” The Nation reported. Naturally, DMFI has put out a press release denouncing Minnerly’s arms embargo resolution.
On the subject of Israel and Palestinian people, more than ever it’s DNC leadership versus a large majority of Democrats nationwide. One poll after another this year has found that — in the words of a headline over a Brookings Institution analysis this month — “support for Israel continues to deteriorate, especially among Democrats and young people.”
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A Gallup poll in July found that only 8% of Democrats said they approved of Israel’s military action in Gaza. That poll lines up with the conclusions from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other (including Israeli) human rights organizations that have reported Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Minnerly’s resolution for suspending military aid has gained notable support from young Democratic leaders.
Midway through last week, Sunjay Muralitharan, the president of the official College Democrats of America organization and a DNC member, posted on X: “As the National President of @CollegeDems I’m proud to co-sponsor the DNC Resolution calling for an arms embargo and explicit recognition of a Palestinian State. Young Americans have made their voices clear. A modern Democratic Party must stand against global injustice.”
On Friday, Zayed Kadir, the leader of the official group High School Democrats of America released a similar statement. “As National Chair of @hsdems, I represent American youth in the Democratic Party. That’s why I’m proud to co-sponsor a DNC Resolution demanding an Arms Embargo and recognition of Palestine. The youth voice is clear. Our party must stand against injustice — at home and abroad.”
The top of the DNC power structure has exerted pressure on Minnerly to dilute or withdraw her resolution, but she has refused to be intimidated. When I spoke with her over the weekend, her tone was measured, emphatic and resolute.
The counter-resolution from DNC leaders shows they are continuing to drift into a sealed-off political galaxy, very far from where Democrats actually are. Consider the responses this month when the Economist/YouGov poll asked Democrats this question: “Do you think that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian civilians?” 65% replied yes, 8% said no and 27% were “not sure.”
Those numbers show that, on the subject of Israel and Gaza, the DNC’s officers are guilty of political malpractice — and actively complicit with what most Democrats in the nation see as genocide.
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At the same time, to put it mildly, the party can hardly afford to further alienate its base.
On Aug. 20, the New York Times published an in-depth analysis of voter registration data that led to stunning conclusions: “The Democratic Party is hemorrhaging voters long before they even go to the polls. Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections – and often by a lot. That four-year swing toward the Republicans adds up to 4.5 million voters, a deep political hole that could take years for Democrats to climb out from.”
The possibility that the Democratic Party will actually climb out of the “deep political hole” is especially remote because its leaders — not only Martin but also Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — are functioning as if they are navigating politics in some bygone era. As apologists for Israel, they’re doing major damage to Democratic prospects for next year’s midterm elections and for defeating the Republican ticket in 2028.
Meanwhile, Israel continues with its mass killing and genocide made possible by the U.S. government.
