Morning Report

DNC delivers blow to progressives on Israel issues

by Jared Gans - 04/10/26 7:01 AM ET

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by Jared Gans - 04/10/26 7:01 AM ET

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In today’s issue:

- DNC defers on Israel resolutions

- Trump tariffs back in court

- Melania Trump denies Epstein ties

- Democrats call for removing Trump

Democrats rejected one divisive resolution on Israel and avoided formally weighing in on several others at its meeting in New Orleans on Thursday — but that’s far from the end of the tensions over Israel in the party.

A Democratic National Committee (DNC) panel shot down a resolution rebuking the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) involvement in recent Democratic primaries, as its associated super PACs have poured millions into races to boost their preferred candidates.

The panel also deferred on other resolutions calling for placing conditions on military aid to Israel, sending them instead to a Middle East policy working group.

The panel did approve a broader measure opposing the influence of dark money generally in this year’s Democratic primaries.

DNC Chair Ken Martin argued in a post online that the dark money resolution captured concerns about outside spending writ large.

“We had various resolutions that focused on different industries and groups, and instead of going one-by-one, we passed a blanket repudiation,” he wrote on the social platform X.

DNC member John Verdejo said during the discussion on the AIPAC resolution that he supported getting rid of dark money but took issue with singling out AIPAC, The Hill’s Caroline Vakil reported.

“Shameful,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said of the AIPAC vote in a post on X.

A DNC member told Politico they received calls from two potential 2028 presidential candidates expressing concern about the vote.

“Two 2028 candidates lobbied against this DNC resolution condemning AIPAC. It failed,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on X. “Anyone who wants to lead this party must condemn and reject AIPAC money.”

While the resolution was nonbinding, it was seen by supporters an important way to distance the party from a group that has strongly supported Israel’s war in Gaza.

AIPAC has spent big on pro-Israel in recent elections, such as a New Jersey special primary in February and Illinois primaries last month, drawing fury from the progressive wing of the party.

The growing tensions within the DNC over Israel reflects a stark shift in public attitudes since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023.

Polls have shown Americans, and especially Democrats, have soured on Israel’s conduct. Only 32 percent of respondents in a Gallup poll released last July, before the ceasefire, said they approved of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

More recently, more Americans said in a poll released in February that they sympathize with Palestinians than they do with Israel, a reversal from polls taken the previous 24 years.

But these figures have yet to move most party leaders, some of whom have pushed back on the focus on AIPAC. Defenders of the group have noted that many other organizations pour millions into Democratic primaries through dark money donations, without the intense scrutiny that AIPAC has received.

“We agree with the rejection of dark money in politics,” said Halie Soifer, CEO of Jewish Democratic Council of America, in a post on X, “but also believe that singling out any individual organization is both unproductive and unnecessarily divisive.”

The vote comes as Israel’s military is again in the global spotlight with its deadly strikes on Lebanon this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his Cabinet on Thursday to negotiate with the Lebanese government on disarming Hezbollah, as President Trump urged him to scale back Israel’s barrage of attacks on its northern neighbor.

Israel’s foreign policy and broader conflicts in the Middle East have made for tense discussions among Democrats for decades, but the infighting rose to new levels with the war in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed.

While party leaders were widely in sync in condemning Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which claimed 1,200 lives, there are deep divisions over Israel’s response.

The war came to the forefront of U.S. politics in 2024, as protests raged on college campuses against the rising civilian death toll and U.S. military aid for Israel. The backlash spurred a movement to remain uncommitted to former President Biden’s reelection bid, and eventually former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign as well.

Some Democrats blamed the divisions for costing the party the 2024 election. And while the war has essentially ended, the split within the Democrat