MINNEAPOLIS—Sharp Democratic divisions over the United States’ support for Israel became plainly apparent Tuesday during the Democratic National Committee summer meeting, prompting national Chairman Ken Martin to hastily announce he would initiate a task force to further debate the party’s position on the issue.
Minutes after a DNC panel unanimously approved a consensus resolution—put forth by Martin—that reiterated the party’s longstanding support for Israeli-Palestinian peace, it defeated a proposed resolution calling for a U.S. arms embargo of Israel and recognition of a Palestinian state. But Martin subsequently huddled privately with proponents of the failed resolution, after which he announced the withdrawal of the first, successful Israel-related resolution. Martin’s olive branch appeared defensive—to head off further infighting over what has become among the party’s most contentious topics. But he also managed to preserve the DNC’s status quo position as a stalwart Israel supporter (at least on paper).
“There’s a divide in our party on this issue. This is a moment that calls for shared dialogue,” Martin said in remarks before the DNC resolutions committee, as reporters looked on. “I am going to appoint a committee or task force comprised of stakeholders on all sides of this to continue to have the conversation, to work through this, and bring solutions back to our party.”
The DNC is meeting inside a downtown Minneapolis hotel for a biannual business meeting, and the casual conversations and organized committee discussions have been mostly unifying: President Donald Trump is damaging the country; the Republican agenda is hurting the economy and stripping health care from vulnerable Americans; Democrats need to work hard to win back power in Washington in the 2026 midterm elections—and that requires talking to voters and honing mobilization strategies. But regarding Israel, and particularly its ongoing war in Gaza, DNC members are palpably split.
DNC members supporting Resolution 18, a proposal to alter the DNC platform and eliminate decades of strong party support for Israel, were dissatisfied by Martin’s vow to set up a task force and unimpressed by his decision to withdraw his pro-Israel resolution—Resolution 3. Indeed, Allison Minnerly, 26, the DNC member from Florida who introduced Resolution 18, conceded she would have been disappointed even if a version of her resolution had passed, but with a proposed amendment to halt shipments of offensive U.S. weapons to Israel while allowing the continued export of defensive arms. (The amendment, like Resolution 18, was voted down.)
“There was an opportunity today for the Democratic Party to align itself with the majority of its voters. Overwhelmingly, Democrats want the end of U.S. involvement in this war,” Minnerly told reporters. “It’s disappointing that the conversation is ending here today and that at this DNC meeting there’s going to be no further conversation on Gaza.”
As for Minnerly’s claim that a majority of Democratic voters support the substance of Resolution 18, she pointed The Dispatch to a Gallup poll, presumably released in late July, showing that just 8 percent of Democrats approve of Israeli military action in Gaza. But that survey did not poll support for slapping Jerusalem with an arms embargo.
During Tuesday morning’s resolutions committee hearing, the panel quickly passed Martin’s Resolution 3. Among other positions, the measure affirmed support for a “credible, negotiated pathway toward a two-state solution that ensures equal measures of dignity, freedom and opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians alike.” But debate on Resolution 18 was lengthy—and emotional. Harini Krishnan, a DNC member from California, expressed sympathy for Resolution 18 and the many activists who emailed urging her to back the proposal.
But Krishnan ultimately abstained (as did a handful of other panel members), saying she was troubled by the measure’s language. “I truly hope that as a party, we can move beyond this issue. Our country is falling apart,” she said. “The way that this resolution is written—I think I would like to see the onus of a ceasefire, not only with the right-wing Israeli government, but also Hamas, and it does not mention that.”
Nathan Soltz, Oregon’s Democratic Party chairman, was outspoken both in backing Martin’s eventually withdrawn Resolution 3 and opposing Resolution 18. The 28-year-old Soltz sits squarely in the generation of American voters more likely to question the U.S.-Israel alliance, but he nonetheless takes the party’s historic position of supporting U.S. military and diplomatic aid to Jerusalem. And he rejects the arguments made by some DNC members that his stance is now held by a minority within the party.
“You can always find numbers that say what you want them to say. This issue is so complex that it’s worth the kinds of conversations we’re having here,” Soltz told The Dispatch during a brief interview after the resolutions panel concluded. “We have a real humanitarian crisis in Gaza that’s being perpetuated by an ultranationalist Israeli regime. At the same time, that means that Israel still has the right to defend itself.”
But Joe Salas, a DNC member from California who backed Resolution 18, views the issue quite differently, a reminder of the chasm that has opened inside the party over the U.S.-Israel alliance.
“You have to address the suffering that’s happened first because history is all about—we learn our history and then we make amends,” Salas told The Dispatch. “If your neighbor who immediately lives around you has no food, has no water, has no electricity, eventually—to feed their families—they’re going to come over to your house and maybe take things that they need to make their family live. Not that that makes that right but it’s about survival.”
Not discussed during Tuesday’s debate over Israel but looming over the party is the effect vocal opposition to Israel could have on Jewish voters. The Democratic Party has received a majority of the Jewish vote in most midterm and presidential elections dating to the early 20th century. But this century, the political party exhibiting more unwavering support for the U.S.-Israel alliance has been the GOP, with Democrats expressing some anxiety about how that, combined with sharp criticism of Israel from the left, might impact Jewish voting behavior in the future.
At least for now, the two Democratic groups focused on this, Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) and the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), are framing the outcome of the debate at the DNC resolutions committee as a win. “Today, the Democratic Party sent a clear and resounding message by defeating a reckless and divisive resolution,” DMFI President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Romick said in a statement. The JDCA provided a similar statement from CEO Halie Soifer, with an added line related to Martin’s promised task force.
“As the newly formed DNC task force convenes, at the request of Chair Martin, JDCA will strongly advocate for continued support of Israel’s security, an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Soifer said. “We will insist that any statement from the Democratic Party on the U.S.-Israel relationship continues to reflect the values of our community, over 70% of whom support Democrats.”
