Some progressives split with Biden and the Democrats on unqualified support for Israel
WASHINGTON — While most Democrats have echoed President Biden in expressing unqualified support for Israel after the Hamas attacks, the party has struggled to deliver a unified message as some progressive lawmakers have called for both sides to deescalate the violence.
The differing responses demonstrate a long-running divide in the party between moderates like Biden who are strongly pro-Israel and a growing progressive wing that has become increasingly outspoken about the Israeli government’s historic treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
The dynamic is on display in the Massachusetts congressional delegation, where Senator Ed Markey and Representative Ayanna Pressley joined their colleagues in condemning the attacks but stopped short of full support for Israel in how it responds.
“These devastating attacks on Israelis are deeply alarming and my heart breaks for the victims & their loved ones,” Pressley wrote this weekend on the X social media platform. “We need an immediate ceasefire & de-escalation. It is long past time to stop this cycle of violence & trauma, and work toward a just & lasting peace in the region.”
Representative Seth Moulton, a Salem Democrat, said Tuesday that the concern for the Palestinian people is appropriate but that calls by some progressives for deescalation are out of place given the scope of the Hamas attacks.
“Did they call for a deescalation of violence after 9/11?” he said. “Now, look, in the long run, of course, we want the deescalation of violence. That’s what everyone wants. We want peace in the Middle East.”
Moulton said it’s not difficult to simultaneously question some of Israel’s past actions in dealing with Palestinians blockaded in the Gaza Strip while also condemning Hamas terrorism. But, he added, “This is no time for moral ambiguity.”
“I think there are some lawmakers who are thinking of this politically and not morally because there is no moral defense for what Hamas is doing,” Moulton said.
Markey was not available to comment but a spokesperson shared his full remarks at the rally, which began in part, “We stand with Israel. Israel’s people have the right to live in their rightful homeland, free from fear, free from violence.”
In a statement Tuesday night, Pressley spokesperson said, “The Congresswoman strongly and unequivocally condemns the horrific attack Hamas perpetrated, which has claimed the lives of Israeli families, children and elders. ... She believes Israel has a right to defend its citizens and that protecting Israeli, American, and Palestinian civilians in the region should be a priority right now.”
Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, a left-leaning policy think tank, said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a difficult issue to talk about even in normal circumstances. The “horrific attack” by Hamas makes it even more so with emotions so raw.
“Look at the statements from progressive members of Congress and they show great sympathy and support for Israel and shock at these attacks,” said Duss, who was a longtime foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent.
“Many of them also acknowledge that the Palestinians have been suffering under blockade and occupation . . . and I’d completely reject the idea that showing sympathy for the Palestinians and support for their rights comes at the expense of support for Israel, or its people’s rights.”
Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts unambiguously condemned the attacks. “There is no justification for this violence, and innocent people on both sides will suffer hugely because of it. It must end now,” Sanders wrote on X. Warren posted a similar statement on Saturday and reiterated it at the Boston rally.
But some activists have gone further than progressives in Congress and that has led to pushback. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive New York Democrat, publicly condemned comments made at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City on Sunday, where The New York Times reported people cheered the attacks on Israel.
“The bigotry and callousness expressed in Times Square on Sunday were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “It also did not speak for the thousands of New Yorkers who are capable of rejecting both Hamas’ horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation.”
There was similar blowback to a joint statement Saturday from a coalition of Harvard student groups that said the Israeli government was “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”
Moulton and Representative Jake Auchincloss, both Harvard graduates and military veterans, criticized the statement.
Auchincloss, a Newton Democrat, called it “morally depraved” and in an interview Tuesday criticized the Harvard administration for not condemning it and voicing support for Israel. Later Tuesday, Harvard president Claudine Gay condemned what she called “the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.”
“This issue should not be hard to talk about,” Auchincloss said. “Terrorists dragged Jews from their houses and executed them. If you can’t fully, forcefully, and unequivocally condemn that, then your own belief system needs to be examined.”
Auchincloss also attended the Monday rally on Boston Common, where he drew cheers for telling the crowd “now is not the time for equivocation.” He declined on Tuesday to criticize Markey for his comments.
“Obviously we had slightly diverging statements, but what I heard from Senator Markey overall . . . is that the United States should stand together and I’ve also seen him vote to support Iron Dome,” Auchincloss said. He cited near unanimous support from congressional Democrats for Israel, although Pressley and seven other House Democrats voted in 2021 against funding for the nation’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Ocasio-Cortez voted present.
“I think it’s a mistake to try to spin this narrative of Democrats divided over Israel,” Auchincloss said.
Representative Bill Keating, a Bourne Democrat who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also downplayed any divisions in the delegation or the party overall in Congress.
“It’s a big tent party. This is not uncommon to have a difference of opinion on controversial issues. That’s the nature of the Democratic Party,” he said. “I think the vast majority of our party is behind President Biden and his actions thus far.”
Biden, a longtime staunch supporter of Israel, was unequivocal in his support Tuesday.
“In this moment we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. And we will make sure [they] have what it needs to respond to this attack,” he said at the White House. “Like every nation in the world, Israel has the right to respond, indeed has a duty to respond to these vicious attacks.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his nation’s military would hit Hamas “with a might and scale that the enemy has not yet known.” Israel began launching a barrage of airstrikes over the weekend and executed what it called “a complete siege” of Gaza that included cutting off electricity, food, water, and fuel.
But Duss said Israel should not be given unqualified support and pointed to past polls showing Democratic voters have grown more sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people. A Gallup Poll released in March found that 49 percent of Democrats said their sympathies were more with the Palestinians and 38 percent were more with the Israelis. The support for the Palestinians represented an 11 point increase from a year earlier.
“I think you certainly see a growing constituency in the party and in Congress who believe the United States needs to take care of the rights and security and dignity of Palestinians as well as Israelis,” he said. “And I would say that is not one at the expense of the other.”
Jim Puzzanghera can be reached at jim.puzzanghera@globe.com. Follow him @JimPuzzanghera.