Palestinians were stifled, but Israel was largely ignored. After all, the subject barely makes the top 10 list of concerns for the average American voter.

Mitchell Bard

(JNS)

The Democratic National Convention offered mixed signals for Israel supporters. Israel was barely mentioned inside Chicago’s United Center, overshadowed by more pressing domestic issues. Outside, pro-Hamas protesters called for a ceasefire and arms embargo but were largely ignored.

Like other protests since Oct. 7, this one was a failure. Protesters were kept far from the United Center so that delegates didn’t have to see or hear them. Organizers talked about tens of thousands of Israel-haters showing up, but estimates ranged from 2,000 to 5,000. Most of the events drew a few hundred or less. Seven delegates from the “Uncommitted” movement held a sit-in demanding a speaking slot for a Palestinian American and were rebuffed.

Dana Milbank wrote in a Washington Post op-ed titled, “DNC protests devolve into farce” about the incompetence of demonstrations and the “comically small” crowds that reporters outnumbered. “If the whole world was watching,” he said, “they were seeing a once-powerful protest movement devolve into buffoonery.”

Typically, the anti-Israel voices got disproportionate attention from the media. Jacob Magid wrote a report in The Times of Israel under the heading, “Media spotlight on anti-Israel minority at DNC paints skewed picture of a party divided.” Delusionally, the Arab American Institute declared, “Palestine and supporters of Palestinian rights were big winners.

Substantively, the Biden administration has consistently ignored protesters’ demands. The 2,000-pound bomb embargo remains, but just days before the DNC, a $20 billion weapons sale was approved (though deliveries won’t be for a year or more), and previously delayed weapons are being transferred more expeditiously.

Protesters did succeed in forcing Jews to keep the locations of meetings outside the United Center secret. In one case, they discovered and disrupted a private event led by Agudath Israel of America. The most serious incident was a protest outside the Israeli consulate, though police outnumbered protesters, making about 60 arrests.

The Israeli-American Council put on a daylong art installation near the United Center called “Hostage Square,” which attracted a crowd of hundreds. The Chicago Jewish Alliance also organized a small rally against antisemitism.

Inside the convention, the anti-Israel crowd crowed about the first-ever panel on Palestinian human rights. Beyond that, as MSNBC reported, “the party had gone to lengths to silence and sideline” critics of Biden’s Middle East policy. When demonstrators raised a banner that said “Stop Arming Israel,” delegates in front of them covered it with “We Love Joe” signs. The banner disappeared almost as quickly as it was raised.

Palestinians were stifled, but Israel was largely ignored—and rightly so. Though some took the lack of attention to Israel as an indication of the party’s lack of support, the truth is that of all the issues that concern Americans right now, Israel ranks near the bottom (10th out of 10 issues with only 5% rating as important in July Harvard/CAPS-Harris poll). Democrats want to win the election and that means focusing on immigration, the economy and crime. Still, given that a large number of U.S. troops have been deployed to the Middle East to deter Iran and protect Israel, more speakers addressing the issue were expected.

The party did speak through its platform, which says what most pro-Israel advocates expect: a commitment to Israel’s security and maintaining its qualitative military edge; condemning the Hamas terror organization; building on the 2020 Abraham Accords with a focus on Saudi-Israeli normalization; defending Israel at the United Nations; opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement against Israel (with the caveat of protecting free speech); and preventing Iran from going nuclear.

Conservatives will take issue with the pursuit of a two-state solution; a diplomatic approach to Iran; the opposition to settlements; the focus on settler violence; the notion that the Hezbollah threat can be solved diplomatically and the emphasis on aid to the Gazans; and a ceasefire without regard for its security implications. The position on Jerusalem is contradictory, saying it should remain the capital of Israel but is still a matter for final status negotiations. None of this is a dramatic departure from the party’s long-time positions, and nothing could be characterized as anti-Israel.

As for the speakers, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro might have been expected to say something about antisemitism and Israel, given suspicions that Vice President Kamala Harris passed him over for her running mate because he was Jewish, but he didn’t. Illinois’s Jewish Gov. J.B. Pritzker said nothing. Even Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who boasted of being “the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history,” didn’t offer a word of support for Israel. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at least mentioned bringing home the hostages with his demand for an immediate ceasefire.

Before Harris spoke, the word “Israel” was not mentioned by any politician. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez couldn’t even utter the word while praising Harris for “working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bringing hostages home.” No one mentioned the massacre of Jews or expressed any sympathy for the hostages, including the five Americans still held.

Some people are reassured that Harris will be pro-Israel because her husband is Jewish. That’s a thin reed to rely on. In his speech, Doug Emhoff mentioned Harris going to synagogue on the High Holidays (he goes to church on Easter) and making brisket for Passover. He said nothing about Israel, but he had no reason to do so.

President Joe Biden’s speech was the most disappointing since he was the only speaker whose views mattered before inauguration day. He emoted about the effort to bring the hostages home and end the war, but also omitted the word “Israel” and the ironclad commitment to its security. More disturbing was his comment, “Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.” The remark was offensive because it offered legitimacy to pro-Hamas demonstrators.

The saving grace of the DNC was the most emotional of all the speeches, and it came from the parents of 23-year-old hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Rachel Goldberg-Polin said they were told to expect a neutral or negative reception; instead, she and her husband Jon were greeted with a standing ovation and chants of “Bring them home” that brought Rachel to tears. They made up for the politicians’ silence by recounting the events of Oct. 7 and describing their “happy-go-lucky, laid-back, good humor, respectful and curious” son that left many in the audience crying. They also called for a ceasefire and the end to the “agony on all sides” and left to another standing ovation.

The most important speech, however, was from the candidate herself. “President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done,” she said.

Harris has nothing to do with the negotiations; nevertheless, this was something the audience wanted to hear.

She also crossed all the pro-Israel i’s and dotted the t’s when she said: “I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.”

The real applause came when she said, “At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety.”

She spoke the truth even if some pro-Israel advocates don’t want to admit it and prefer that all of the focus remain on the Israeli victims and the fact that Hamas has put the Palestinians in the position they are in. Still, the comment shouldn’t cost her votes and was an olive branch, albeit a weak one, to the progressives.

It’s no secret that the Democrats have been scared by the number of uncommitted voters in battleground states. They should know that Harris can’t satisfy them without, at a minimum, condemning Israel for “genocide” and calling for an arms embargo. Because she won’t cave into their demands, they may stay uncommitted and help re-elect the man they despise.

Image: Families of American hostages who have been held in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 2024. Credit: Courtesy of Ruby Chen.