The United Democracy Project, the new super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), has begun spending in Democratic primaries. It has unveiled four television ads set to run in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. The new ads do not mention Israel once. The spot for Rep. Shontel Brown in Ohio mainly focuses on progressive challenger Nina Turner, who squared off against Brown in a special election last year.
At the California Democratic Party’s fall convention on November 17, activists pushed a resolution that would have recognized the Palestinian right of return. Although the amendment ultimately failed to be voted into the platform, supporters point to the fact that no vote tally was actually taken and that the results could have been too close to call.
IfNotNow co-founder Max Berger is an aide to the Warren campaign, a fact that has generated predictable hysteria on right-wing blogs and pro-Israel websites. However, last week DMFI founder Mark Mellman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) that he received a call from Warren campaign manager Roger Lau, assuring him that Berger wouldn’t be working on any issue connected to “Israel policy or Jewish outreach.”
Elizabeth Warren’s plan for Palestine is boilerplate two-state rhetoric that includes restoring the U.S. role as “credible mediator.” That’s a reference to the Obama administration, which only increased aid to Israel while refusing to hold it accountable for settlements and massacres. The Democratic base has moved on.