There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable… — Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) British prime minister

As the 2024 Democratic National Convention fades into the media’s rearview mirror, two things are crystal clear: Just how much the two major parties differ on the issue of Israel—both in sentiment and substance—and just how critical the November elections are for the Jewish state.

Bastion of anti-Jewish sentiment?

The conduct of Democratic Party at its recent convention in Chicago underscores a doleful truth. That, as a whole, the party has become an unabashed bastion of animus towards the Jewish people—not only on the collective level vis-à-vis the Jewish state, Israel, but recently also towards the individual Jew, even American Jews.

Indeed, there is no other way to interpret the events that took place during the convention, and those that preceded it. To a large degree, the convention reflected the blossoming of the process set in motion in 2009 by Barack Obama, the first U.S. president unmoored from the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of the American tradition, when he intimated that distancing the U.S. from Israel would benefit American foreign policy.

Some have attempted to put lipstick on a pig by downplaying the significance of incidents that underscore this trend and overplaying the significance of those that do not. But the real significance is found not only in the nature of the events, but in the trend they represent.

Antisemitism as ‘a point’

Thus, while it is true that the convention did not permit a Palestinian speaker to address it, this was entirely overshadowed by the fact that Jews there were compelled to assemble in hiding to conduct Jewish-related affairs for fear of disruption by anti-Jewish mobs. Indeed, one can only wonder in troubled bewilderment what the departing president, Joe Biden, had in mind when he conceded that the pro-Hamas hooligans, demonstrating outside the convention hall, “had a point” as they raucously expressed their outrage at the IDF response to the murder and mutilation, the ravages and rapes of seniors and of infants, of men and of women who comprised the peaceful population of the towns, villages and agricultural communities in the “Gaza Envelope.”

Two aspects underscore the gravity of the unfolding metamorphosis: The timing and the substance.

With regard to the timing, this shift in sentiment seems particularly incongruous, coming as it does when the Palestinians seem more worthy than ever of censure and sanction, rather than support and sympathy. Indeed, this is all the more astounding since this emerging hostility comes hard on the heels, not only of the unspeakable barbarity and brutality on the part of the Gazan Palestinians, but also the joyous embrace with which the appalling atrocities were celebrated by the vast majority of Palestinians in general.

Crucible, not victim

Moreover, it is difficult to separate out between the moral culpability of the general populace in Gaza and their elected leadership. Indeed, contrary to popular belief, the overall population in Gaza is not the hapless victim of its radical Hamas leaders. Rather, the Strip’s population is the crucible in which Hamas was forged and the incubator from which it emerged.

Thus, Hamas is not an unwelcome imposition on an otherwise placid population, but an authentic reflection of the innermost desires of a savage horde.

But rather than side unreservedly with Israel, the Democratic Party and the Biden administration have chosen to take unprecedented measures against the elected government of a friendly nation. With unspeakable impudence, and cynical exploitation of his Jewish origins, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer purported to know better than the Israeli electorate what is good for it. In a desperate attempt to kowtow to his party’s increasingly assertive radical wing, he accused the elected Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of being an “obstacle to peace,” calling for early elections to replace him, despite the fact that, even today, he is the most popular politician in the country. This, of course, is something Schumer would never have presumed to do with any other democratic ally of the US—or even with any non-democratic adversary. Thus, somehow, Schumer found no reason to urge the removal of any member of the brutal Iranian regime in Tehran. Go figure.

Pompous pretentiousness

Arguably even more perturbing is the initiative by the Biden State Department to impose punitive sanctions on right-wing Israeli citizens—and to threaten sanctions on duly-elected senior ministers (Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir). Stunningly, none of the sanctioned individuals or organizations has been accused—never mind, convicted—of any current transgressions by Israeli law-enforcement agencies. With unmatched audacity, the administration pompously proclaimed: “The United States remains deeply concerned about [Jewish] extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermines Israel’s own security,” neglecting of course any mention of how Arab extremism might impact Israel’s security.

Then, with breathtaking arrogance, it announced that if Israel does not act in accordance with its wishes, the U.S. will take it upon itself to deal with recalcitrant Israeli citizens—with no commensurate intentions regarding lawless Arabs, who regularly stone, firebomb and shoot Israeli civilians: “We strongly encourage the government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable. In the absence of such steps, we will continue to impose our own accountability measures.” One can only imagine the outcry that would ensue should Washington threaten to intervene and supersede the functioning of the national law-enforcement authority in any other country—especially if U.S. citizens were not directly impacted by the action or inaction of that authority within the area of its jurisdiction.

Perverse and paradoxical

Furthermore, in terms of substance, Democratic support for the Palestinian cause seems highly incongruous. After all, for anyone who ostensibly embraces progressive liberal values, there should be little attraction in the establishment of any Palestinian entity, especially a theocratic tyranny such as a Hamas-ruled enclave in Gaza. Indeed, why would the party endorse establishing (yet another) homophobic, misogynistic Muslim-majority tyranny, whose hallmarks would be the suppression of women, the oppression of homosexuals, and the repression of non-Muslims and political opponents? Clearly then, there is nothing that corresponds with the values to which the Democratic Party professes to subscribe and the support for gender discrimination, gay persecution, religious intolerance and political oppression that would characterize any self-governing Palestinian political entity.

So, if the surge of support for Hamas and Gaza is antithetical to values allegedly dear to the Democratic Party, and manifestly detrimental to the Jewish state and by association, Jews who identify with it, what could be the motivation behind this malign shift?

Antisemitism certainly seems a highly plausible answer.

Martin Sherman spent seven years in operational capacities in the Israeli defense establishment. He is the founder of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a member of the Habithonistim-Israel Defense & Security Forum (IDSF) research team, and a participant in the Israel Victory Project.