Another sign that Democrats are abandoning Israel
Yet another disturbing sign that the Democratic Party is abandoning Israel: Nearly 40 percent of House Democrats voted against a measure condemning the recent anti-Israel UN resolution, which passed because Team Obama refused to veto it.
Worse, the 76 “no” votes included two of the top three Democrats in the House — Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn.
Even more significant: Rep. Keith Ellison, a leading candidate to head the Democratic National Committee, also voted no.
Thanks to near-unanimous GOP support, the measure passed by an overwhelming 342-80 vote. Partly, that’s because it’s not nearly as one-sided as the one it criticized. It didn’t explicitly rebuke President Obama or Secretary of State John Kerry, nor defend the Israeli settlements attacked by the UN.
Rather, it noted that the US abstention was a clear departure from longstanding policy of defending Israel and encouraging direct negotiations between the parties.
That so many Democrats couldn’t support that speaks volumes about where the party, already hurtling far to the left, stands when it comes to support for Israel.
It follows the notorious booing down a mention of Jerusalem at the 2012 Democratic convention, the presence of scores of Palestinian flags at the 2016 convention and Bernie Sanders’ naming of three anti-Israel activists to the party’s platform committee.
Most Democratic leaders still support Israel. But Ellison in particular represents the hard-left activists who increasingly make up the Democratic base — whose sympathies no longer lie with Israel.
His selection as the next public face of the Democratic Party would send an unmistakable message, and a profoundly ugly one.
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