Right-wing Democrats and their support for Israel

By Dayvon Love

The political discourse and perspectives on what is happening in the Middle East are fairly expansive. There are many people, like myself, who characterize the state of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack as a genocide. There are those on the other side of the political spectrum who refer to it as Israel exercising its right to defend itself. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, it is undeniable that political figures and institutions that are the most ardent proponents of Israel’s current policy in Palestine tend to be proponents of a right-wing political agenda. 

In New York’s 16th congressional district Democratic primary election, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an explicitly pro-Israel, Zionist organization, put millions of dollars behind George Latimer to successfully unseat progressive Congressman Jamaal Bowman. Bowman has been a harsh critic of Israel, which would naturally draw opposition from AIPAC. 

An even closer analysis of the nature of AIPAC’s political agenda, which is documented in “The Squad,” a book authored by The Intercept’s Washington, D.C. bureau chief Ryan Grim,  reveals that their attack is against the left or progressive wing of the Democratic Party. They are targeting people who are progressive on criminal justice reform, police accountability, income inequality and other relevant issues that are considered left of the Democratic Party mainstream. These attacks by AIPAC, its affiliated entities and the corporate wing of the Democratic Party extend beyond national politics.

Here in Maryland, we have a competitive race for the U.S. Senate with Democratic nominee Angela Alsobrooks and Republican nominee and former governor Larry Hogan. An interesting development from this race is the establishment of Democrats for Hogan, co-chaired by former Democratic Maryland state Sen. Bobby Zirkin. He has a well-documented political track record as a conservative Democrat on the previously mentioned issues. While he will tout his involvement in initiatives like the Justice Reinvestment Act or drug treatment for non-violent drug offenders as a sign of his sympathies for criminal justice reform, he was a dedicated proponent of mandatory minimums or sentence enhancements, law enforcement-centric approaches to public safety, and is currently characterizing members of “The Squad” in Congress as fringe leftists. 

Additionally, he has identified support for the state of Israel and its current policy in Gaza as his primary issue for this U.S. Senate race. He has identified his issue with Angela Alsobrooks as the company she keeps. He referred to U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is more progressive than Zirkin but certainly not a leftist, as “Chris Van Hamas.” Zirkin is concerned that Alsobrooks is too close to Van Hollen relative to his position on Israel. 

The Democratic Party in Maryland has allowed conservative Democrats like Zirkin and entities like Sinclair Broadcasting to pull the party toward the right, in a way that exposes Black people to policies that perpetuate our continued collective subordination. As chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, his conservative agenda on criminal justice issues is reflective of the kinds of policies that propelled mass incarceration and the current Sinclair Broadcasting/ Fox45 agenda to criminalize Black people. His decision to endorse Larry Hogan is a clear indication of alignment with a political agenda that wants to criminalize 10-12-year-olds and repeal the Child Interrogation Protection Act. Zirkin’s position on Israel is clearly connected to his right-wing political ideology given the fact that Hogan is quoted as saying that he believes that he is “going to win most of the Jewish vote all over the state,” according to the Washington Post. 

The overlap between Zirkin and Hogan’s policy positions, and their uncritical support for the state of Israel should make it clear to the Democratic Party that this U.S. Senate race is political backlash for the work that my organization and many other progressive political forces that moves the political landscape further in the direction of the mass of Black, Brown and working-class people in Maryland. Organizations that work on behalf of this constituency tend to have a political perspective that is more critical of the colonial and oppressive policies of the state of Israel. This makes Zirkin’s support for Larry Hogan extremely consistent with his conservative politics. If Larry Hogan wins, it will not come as a result of right-wing Republicans, but as a result of right-wing Democrats that are virtually indistinguishable from Republicans.