The Shift: Mainstream media can no longer deny Democratic voters have soured on Israel

In recent years, polling has shown that Israel’s reputation is declining among Democratic voters, and it’s no surprise that the numbers have gotten even worse for the country amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

These developments are consistently documented at outlets like Mondoweiss, but they’re rarely acknowledged within the mainstream media. Israel is still treated like a third rail issue that lawmakers can’t touch, and the opinions of the American people are almost never discussed.

Zohran Mamdani’s victory has finally pushed the shift into full view.

During the campaign, the media primarily focused on his Israel position, but they almost always presented it as a stance that could cost him votes and not something that could actually help him win.

Now, major outlets and publications are wrestling with the new reality.

After Mamdani won NYC’s mayoral primary, CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten broke down some of the statistics for viewers.

“I’m not quite sure the former governor understood how much the politics around this issue have changed among Democrats,” explained Enten.

On his screen, he brought up polling from Quinnipiac. In 2017, Democrats sympathized with Israelis over Palestinians by 13 points. Now, Democrats sympathize with Palestines over Israelis by 43 points.

“Look at this sea change!,” declared Enten.

“All of a sudden, it’s the pro-Palestinian position that actually reigns supreme in Democratic politics, not the Israeli position, and that is part of the reason why Mamdani was able to do so well in this primary because those attacks over Israel, simply put, did not ring true for Democrats,” he continued. “They’re now on the side of the Palestinians, not the Israelis.”

The New York Times just published an Op-Ed by Peter Beinart that expands upon the sea change.

“Support of Israel isn’t the primary reason that, according to Reuters, 62 percent of Democrats want new leaders,” writes Beinart. “What seems to anger grass roots Democrats most is their party’s inability to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box and stand up to him as president. But unquestioned support for Israel has become, for many, a symbol of the timidity and inauthenticity of party elites — and that leaves them vulnerable to political insurgents who don’t compromise the values of equality and anti-discrimination. That’s how Mr. Mamdani connected his support for Palestinian freedom to his broader message.”

Democratic lawmakers are examining the same data as everyone else, so they must see the writing on the wall. However, this is challenging terrain to navigate.

As Beinart notes, there is a real grassroots anger toward the leadership of the party, and that includes its position on Palestine. However, many politicians have material ties to Israel, whether it’s through the support of donors or backing from organizations like AIPAC.

This is why Democrats have praised Mamdani’s campaign while stopping short of endorsing him. They are trying to thread a needle, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult.

No doubt they saw what happened to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who accused Mamdani of supporting “global jihad.” She claims she misspoke and was referring to the phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” but she didn’t stop at that clarification. After protesters showed up outside her office, she apologized to Mamdani.

It’s hard to envision the Gillibrand apology happening a few years ago. The shift has also rendered a vast portion of the Mamdani smear campaigns moot, as his detractors have largely focused on his foreign policy position.

This week, the New York Post had another big “Exclusive” on Mamdani. We already knew that he helped launch Students for Justice in Palestine at Bowdoin College while he was attending the school.

The Post believes it has ignited a controversy by discovering that, in 2013, the SJP group invited political science professor As’ad AbuKhalil to give a speech about the Middle East on campus. They refer to him a “radical speaker who called Israel a bigger terror threat than Hamas.”

However, the real kicker concerns the 9/11 attacks. They point out that AbuKhalil said this in 2021:

“We have to remember that the US basically was hit on 9/11 by forces that were reactionary and fanatic and were raised and armed and sponsored by America and its allies in the Middle East.”

“People forget that 9/11 is a repercussion of the Cold War when the US made its bed and clearly with the religious fanatics of the Muslim world. This is a time where socialists around the world in Chile, in the Arab world and everywhere were under attack by the US. Reactionary forces in support.”

It’s obviously ridiculous to try to connect Mamdani’s founding of SJP to something AbuKhalil said almost a decade later, but even if one accepts the paper’s preposterous premise, it’s unclear what would be controversial here.

Mamdani’s most ardent supporters are young people who grew up amid criminal wars of empire. They’re very aware of the disastrous consequences of such actions. Like Enten said in the CNN segment, this stuff is not hitting with the Democratic base.

Albanese Targeted

This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. government will impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories.

Albanese’s great crime is fighting to hold Israel and the United States accountable for their war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

“The United States has repeatedly condemned and objected to the biased and malicious activities of Albanese that have long made her unfit for service as a Special Rapporteur,” said Rubio in a statement. “Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West. That bias has been apparent across the span of her career, including recommending that the ICC, without a legitimate basis, issue arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.”

Less than two weeks ago, Albanese released a report naming dozens of companies that are complicit in “the transformation of Israel’s economy of occupation to an economy of genocide.”

Rubio statement took specific aim at this effort.

“We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty,” he declared. “The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare, to check and prevent illegitimate ICC overreach and abuse of power, and to protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.”

“They know they can’t withstand legal scrutiny––so they’re targeting the UN investigator exposing their crimes,” tweeted journalist Abby Martin. “Now that Albanese’s probe includes US corporations, this mafia retaliation aims to silence her & shield their complicity in genocide. The world stands with Francesca Albanese!”

The move is part of Trump’s wider war on the ICC. In June, the administration sanctioned four of its judges for issuing warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. In February Trump hit ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan with sanctions for bringing a case against Israel.

“Just to be sure, on this day more than ever: I stand firmly and convincingly on the side of justice, as I have always done,” wrote Albanese in response to the sanctions. “I come from a country with a tradition of illustrious legal scholars, talented lawyers and courageous judges who have defended justice at great cost and often with their own life. I intend to honor that tradition. Also: it is called the Rome Statute for a reason, and I am proud of it.”

Odds & Ends

🚫 20 years of BDS: An interview with Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the movement

🇵🇸 Every time I go to a U.S.-run ‘aid’ center in Gaza, I know I might not come back

👤 ICE official: We used Canary Mission to find students to target for deportation

🇮🇱 The world is moving on, but Israel refuses to change

📰 How the Wall Street Journal fell for the trap of the Hebron ‘emirate’

🏫 The National Education Association just voted to cut all ties to the Anti-Defamation League

🪂 Why I quit the U.S. Air Force and went on a hunger strike to stop the Gaza genocide

🗞️ Semafor: Times pushed ahead to avoid being scooped on Mamdani Columbia story

🇺🇸 Common Dreams: In Too Much of the US, Israel’s Gaza Genocide Has Been Made Invisible

🇮🇷 Counterpunch: Iran and the Nuclear Order

☎️ Truthout: Calls to GI Hotlines Rise as Service Members Consider Defying Trump’s Orders

🎓 Jewish Currents: Inside the New Group Giving Antisemitism Trainings at Harvard

🗣️ Jewish Insider: Michigan Senate hopeful Mike Rogers underscores his support for Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program

📈 Times of Israel: Nearly 1/3 of New York voters support Mamdani’s statements on BDS, intifada — poll

🪖 Miami Herald: The Army just turned 4 Big Tech execs into instant officers. What an insult

🇮🇶 Responsible Statecraft: Charges of US contractor shootings in Gaza recalls ugly Blackwater era

🤝 Axios: Trump hopes to align with Netanyahu on Gaza war endgame during visit

👋 The Intercept: Pro-Israel Professor Shai Davidai is leaving Columbia