Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the first Jewish Senate majority leader in history and a staunch ally of Israel, faces a tricky divide in his caucus and the broader Democratic Party over how to respond to the attacks against Israel.
Schumer must navigate the growing tensions between Democratic allies of Israel and progressive Democrats who want Israel to de-escalate its reprisals in the wake of the attacks.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,500 people in Gaza, including nearly 500 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the enclave is running out of fuel and medical supplies because of a complete siege imposed by Israeli forces.
Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former Senate leadership aide, said rank-and-file Democratic voters have grown more sympathetic to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza in recent years and less supportive of Israel.
A Gallup poll published in March showed that the sympathies of self-identified Democrats have shifted away from Israel and toward Palestine in the last decade. The survey showed 49 percent of Democrats sympathize more with Palestinians, while 38 percent sympathize more with Israelis and 13 percent don’t favor either side.
Manley said that trend has coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long term in power and his brand of right-wing politics.
“Bibi’s done himself no favors with Democrats over the years. That’s a fact,” he said.
At the same time, Manley said he expected Democrats to back Israel now given the events of the past week.
“In spite all that, given the current crisis the government is facing, I fully expect most Democrats in both the House and the Senate to continue to support the government despite some on the left calling for de-escalation and despite the fact that more and more Democrats have become disillusioned with the state of Israel in polling,” he said.
Schumer, who was traveling in China on a bipartisan congressional delegation trip when Hamas attacked Israel, responded quickly to the crisis by organizing briefings with senior U.S. and Israeli officials.
He urged Defense Department officials Sunday to give Israel everything it requests and expressed his disappointment to Chinese President Xi Jinping over what he saw as China’s weak response to the violence against Israeli civilians. China later strengthened its statement to condemn “all violence and attacks on civilians.”
After Schumer spoke to Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday, the leader’s office noted that he is the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history and reported that he told Herzog the Senate is ready to do whatever it can to ensure Israel has the resources it needs.
But while many Democrats have joined Schumer in condemning Hamas and the brutal murder of hundreds of Israelis, there is growing Democratic criticism of the airstrikes that have turned neighborhoods in Gaza to rubble.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of Schumer’s leadership team, on Wednesday called the siege of Gaza a “serious violation of international law” and called on the United States to “insist on restraint from Israeli forces attacking Gaza.”
Mike Lux, a Democratic strategist, said “there is concern among a lot of us that Gaza becomes a permanent war zone, that people are starved, people are denied water and electricity.”
“The hope is that Israel finds a way to root out Hamas, punish Hamas but without hurting innocents in Gaza,” he said. “That’s the key.”
Another progressive, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), received boos at a pro-Israel rally after urging “a de-escalation of the current violence.”
“Most Democratic legislators are pro-Israel and are backing that country’s effort to deal with the atrocities, but the problem is there are major figures in the Democratic Party who don’t share that view and either want a balanced approach, and some even want a pro-Palestinian stance. That is really going to complicate the task of Democratic leaders because the party is simply not united on this topic,” said Darrell West, a political scientist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
A few House Democrats have been more outspoken in their criticism of Israel, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who said while the world condemns Hamas’s attacks, “we must also oppose the Israeli military response that has already taken the lives of hundreds of Palestinians.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who faces a competitive election next year, on Wednesday lashed out at left-wing critics of Israel.
“It is outrageous that some extremists and activists like the Democratic Socialists of America are using this attack as an opportunity to oppose lifesaving security assistance in Israel’s darkest hour,” she said.
Democratic strategists say divisions over Israel are receiving new prominence in the aftermath of the attacks on Israeli civilians and the devasting bombardment of Gaza.
“This debate has been going on within the party for years. What’s different now is the stakes are so high. I expect those on the left calling for de-escalation among other things to grow even stronger in the days to come, but I honestly don’t think they’re going to win. That’s not where the [Senate Democratic] caucus is as a whole, and that’s not where the party is,” Manley said.
Earlier in the week, Schumer came under pressure from vulnerable Senate Democratic incumbents who wanted President Biden to freeze $6 billion in funding to Iran, which would throw a wrench into the Biden administration’s broader strategy of engaging with Iran to curb its nuclear program.
At least six Democratic senators, including five incumbents facing reelection — Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Bob Casey (R-Pa.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rosen — called on the Biden administration to freeze the funding.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) say they will ask for unanimous consent after the Senate reconvenes next week to pass legislation freezing those assets, effectively daring Democrats to make an objection.
Schumer hadn’t said whether he would support refreezing the $6 billion before the Biden administration announced late Thursday that it would block Iran from accessing the funds.
Policy experts warn that backing out of a deal with Iran after it released five American prisoners will inflict a blow to the Biden administration’s diplomatic goals toward Iran.
“If the first thing after you make a deal is you throw the deal away, then how are you ever going to talk to the Iranians again?” said Paul Salem, president and CEO of the Middle East Institute.
Schumer was one of only four Senate Democrats who voted against then-President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, but as the highest-ranking Democrat in Congress, he faces the expectation that he will support Biden’s agenda to engage diplomatically with Iran.
The Biden administration announced in 2021 that it would join allies in trying to restore the nuclear deal and dropped former President Trump’s efforts to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran.
Salem said the Biden administration viewed the prisoner exchange with Iran as an important step toward improving diplomatic relations after Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.
“They are still wanting to engage with the Iranians. There’s still a chance there could be a breakthrough” on a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program, Salem said of the Biden administration.
“The prisoner exchange was a positive step. The Americans see it as such. It might be a long shot to expect another deal, but it’s a good track record to establish. If Biden wins a second term, he does want to maintain his credibility with the Iranians to coax them into a fuller deal,” he added.