Democratic candidates are being attacked over ties to Israel in key primaries
Support for Israel has significantly declined among Democratic voters
Candidates are shifting their positions to align with the party's changing views
Even minor connections to Israeli politicians are being used as political ammunition
📖 Full Retelling
In Illinois, Texas, and Michigan Democratic primaries during March 2026, candidates are facing scrutiny over their connections to Israel as support for the country wanes among Democratic voters following the devastating war in Gaza, with opponents using even minor ties to Israeli political figures to challenge rivals like Illinois Senate candidate Juliana Stratton who met with Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni in 2019. The political attacks reflect a significant shift in Democratic attitudes toward Israel, with polls showing approximately two-thirds of Democrats now sympathizing more with Palestinians compared to just 20% aligned with Israelis, a dramatic decrease from half of Democrats being pro-Israel in 2016. This changing landscape has forced candidates like Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly to distance herself from past pro-Israel stances, including returning donations from AIPAC and declaring herself the only candidate to call what happened in Gaza a genocide, while simultaneously criticizing Stratton's 2019 meeting with Livni despite Kelly's own history of accepting pro-Israel funding and congressional trips to Israel. The controversy extends beyond Illinois, with Michigan candidate Abdul El-Sayed attacking Rep. Haley Stevens for her advocacy of Israel and Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett having to defend her vote to fund defensive weapons for Israel, demonstrating how even tangential connections to the longtime U.S. ally have become potent political weapons in the current Democratic primary season.
🏷️ Themes
Democratic Party Shift, Israel-Palestine Conflict, Political Campaign Tactics
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (Hebrew: ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, pronounced [tsiˈpoʁa malˈka ˈtsipi ˈlivni]; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer.
A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former foreign minister, vice prime min...
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought as part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts. The war began on 7 October 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals we...
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC AY-pak) (formerly "American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs") is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. It is one of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in...
Ties to Israel plague Democrats in top primaries post-Gaza In Illinois, Texas and Michigan, candidates have been forced to address connections to Israel as support wanes among Democrats. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adjusts his headphones during a press conference in Jerusalem on Dec. 7, 2025. | Ariel Schalit/AP By Daniel Lippman 03/03/2026 08:00 AM EST Israel, after a long, devastating war in Gaza, has become so unpopular among many voters in the Democratic base that major candidates in top primaries are using even small connections to the country’s political leaders to hit their opponents. One Illinois Democratic operative involved in this year’s primaries has dredged up a 2019 trip that Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Juliana Stratton took to Israel to meet with the then-leader of the Israeli opposition Tzipi Livni. The operative, who was granted anonymity because they feared getting blacklisted from future political campaigns, went even further back citing a decade-old plus arrest warrant a British court issued related to a weeks-long conflict with Gaza that started in December 2008. And one of Stratton’s opponents has gone on the record criticizing the trip. Livni, of course, is one of Netanyahu’s top critics and is solidly on the left in Israel. She is a vocal advocate of a Palestinian state aside a secure Israel despite support for a two-state solution in Israel falling precipitously in recent years. And she has met with numerous Democratic politicians over the years, including Joe Biden in 2010 , Barack Obama in 2013 and a congressional delegation led by Nancy Pelosi in 2018 . Despite that record, Illinois Senate primary opponent Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) said that Stratton’s 2019 meeting with Livni raises questions about her leadership. “Illinois voters believe that judgement matters,” she said in a statement to POLITICO when asked about Stratton’s Livni meeting. “Juliana Stratton owes them an explanation.” Kelly sees her stance on Livni as one ...
