A growing rift inside the North Carolina Democratic Party is drawing national attention, as the party’s Jewish Caucus accuses state leadership of failing to confront antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric from within its ranks.
The dispute came to a head this week with a statement from Lisa Jewel, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus, calling for unity and support from the party’s State Executive Committee ahead of a vote scheduled for this weekend. Executive Committee members will consider a proposed resolution calling for an embargo on US military aid to Israel. The vote is scheduled for Saturday, June 28, in Asheville.
The resolution under consideration urges an immediate halt to all US military aid, weapons shipments, and logistical support to Israel. It also calls for the US to support international investigations into alleged human-rights violations by Israel.
“The NCDP cannot continue to speak about equity and inclusion while simultaneously tolerating antisemitic comments and excluding Jewish voices from the table,” the Jewish Caucus wrote in its statement. The caucus also expressed concern over “the marginalization of Jewish Democrats in our party,” and asked executive committee members to vote for a resolution affirming their role and perspectives within the party.
Specifically, the Jewish Caucus urges members to instead support a resolution that:
“…affirms the rights of Jewish Democrats to be included, heard, and respected in our party, and calls on NCDP leadership to speak out clearly and consistently against antisemitism and to take action when it arises.”
The national group Democratic Majority for Israel quickly backed the caucus’s message. In a statement issued June 27, DMFI board chair and former US Rep. Kathy Manning said the group “unequivocally stands with the Jewish Caucus of the North Carolina Democratic Party.”
“Time and time again, the Jewish Caucus of North Carolina has attempted to unify and collaborate with the leadership of the North Carolina Democratic Party, which seems unwilling or unable to reciprocate,” Manning said.
She went on to accuse NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton and First Vice Chair Jonah Garson of tolerating “extreme anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism from within the party on social media, in executive committee meetings, and even in the exclusion of Jewish members from Interfaith Caucus meetings.”
In November of 2023, just a month after the attack on Israel in which Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 Jewish people, the NCDP leadership faced harsh criticism for rejecting an application for party members to form a Jewish Caucus.
calls for unity amid global conflict
The internal state party conflict comes against the backdrop of the ongoing Iran-Israel war, which has sharply divided Democrats nationwide. Tensions within the party over US support for Israel have intensified. Progressive Democrats have increasingly criticized Israeli policy, while pro-Israel Democrats warn of antisemitism masquerading as political posturing.
The text of NCDP’s resolution cites Gallup polling numbers that show Democratic voters now sympathize with Palestinians at 59%, up from 16% in 2001. Sympathy for Israelis started dropping around 2021, and now sits at 21% among Democratic voters. In the same poll, Republican voter sympathies for Palestinians is currently 10%, with 75% for Israel, numbers that are consistent for Republicans since 2001.
The resolution also cites data that claims support of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks was the primary reason given by 2020 Biden Democratic voters who decided to not vote in 2024.
In its statement, NCDP’s Jewish Caucus emphasized the stakes: “Jewish Democrats deserve to be treated with the same respect and dignity as other members of our diverse coalition.”
DMFI echoed that urgency, stating: “We stand with the Jewish Caucus in urging all members of the NCDP State Executive Committee to vote for unity tomorrow.”
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Author: CJ Staff
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