A messy family argument about Israel will pick back up when members of the Democratic National Committee meet in New Orleans this week.
Critics of US military aid to Israel are pushing new resolutions that would recognize a Palestinian state, endorse conditions on aid, and condemn spending by AIPAC. A Gaza working group, created by DNC Chair Ken Martin in August, will meet for its second dinner and fourth overall meeting, with no official deadline for its conclusions.
Democrats have more to do in New Orleans. Party leaders in 12 states will lobby for an early spot on the 2028 presidential primary calendar. Advocates for five potential host cities will keep bidding for that year’s national convention. But as Israel and the US continue attacking Iran, with Israel also bombarding Lebanon, progressives are amplifying their demand for clearer moral positioning on the Middle East.
Of the 32 resolutions approved for debate in New Orleans, three edge into foreign policy, including the AIPAC resolution, one that calls for “pausing or conditioning” weapons transfers to units “credibly implication” in violating international law, and one that calls for “full, transparent, and independent investigation” of the airstrike in the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in Iran.
“We want a frank and honest conversation about where our voters are,” said Allison Minnerly, a Florida DNC member who’s part of Martin’s working group. She introduced a resolution against “corporate money” in Democratic primaries, which criticizes super PAC spending against candidates who have “advocated for Palestinian human rights, ceasefire efforts, or changes to U.S. foreign policy.”
The creation of the Gaza working group last summer has done little to change the discussion so far. Martin proposed an open conversation with “stakeholders” after a compromise Israel resolution passed, but one proposed by anti-war activists was rejected. According to group members and the DNC, the eight-member effort has met once for dinner and twice on video calls.
That’s privately frustrated some working group members, who hoped that they could elevate their discussion ahead of DNC meetings. But theirs isn’t the only foreign policy issue on deck for the resolutions meeting.
Members have introduced language that calls for transition to a “democratic Venezuela” while noting that the January operation to remove the country’s former president “violated international law,” and language that calls for the economic embargo on Cuba to do more than “punish Cuba’s undemocratic leaders.”