The Democratic Party has had long-standing ties with groups that are supportive of Israel. But there is now a wave of younger politicians who are openly looking to distance themselves from these groups, and they’re seeing the results in recent elections, defeating candidates still aligned with pro-Israeli groups.
These groups, such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, have exerted their influence to the point of bouncing Democratic politicians who they deem as being against them. Two examples are Democratic Socialists of America members Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri. The two were targeted by the Democratic Majority for Israel with attack ads, and lost their seats in 2025.
The turning point lies in the aftermath of the attacks by the Hamas terror organization on October 7, 2023. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu seized upon the wave of sympathy and set about occupying the Gaza region, presumably to go after Hamas members. The resulting war has left over 72,000 estimated dead as reported by The Guardian, in addition to the further displacement of Palestinians.
Pro-Palestinian activists on college campuses and in rallies nationwide have seemed to influence Democratic politicians to not fully back Israel. That has shown to be recently successful in a Democratic primary race in New Jersey between Tom Malinowski and Analilia Mejia last week. Mejia, a progressive activist who has accused Israel of genocide, won the race as Malinowski saw AIPAC spend $2 million to discredit him – all due to his asking for conditions to be placed on aid to Israel.
Malinowski sees that more will become less engaged with groups like AIPAC because of their demands. “On some level, they may have preferred to elect an anti-Israel progressive versus a mainstream Democrat, who departs from their hard line in a small way,” he said in an interview with Politico. That has already been seen in key races such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victorious campaign last year, which saw him be a fierce critic of Netanyahu and the Israeli government.
There are also signs of those groups losing favor with the younger faction within the Republican Party. This group, notably dominated by young conservatives, are more aligned with the “America First” principles brought about by Trump and have questioned Israel being prioritized by the administration within the beginning of his second term.
