How anti-Israel Democrats are radicalizing the party

Throughout history, political movements and societies that appease antisemitism eventually decay.

Antisemitism corrodes moral judgment, distorts truth, and undermines the very democratic values its enablers claim to champion.

Societies that normalize hatred of Jews never stop there. They fail because they abandon clarity for ideology and principle for power.

Today, the Democratic Party risks following this same pattern.

The Party of Roosevelt faces a consequential choice that will shape its moral credibility and political future.

The question is simple: Will Democrats confront antisemitism and anti-Zionist extremism within their ranks, or continue to excuse, elevate, and normalize it?

Will Democrats choose the path of ethical emptiness leading to political irrelevance?

The path that treats Israel as uniquely evil, indulges obsessive anti-Zionists, and punishes leaders who refuse to comply?

In 2024, Kamala Harris’s decision to elevate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro exemplified that leadership failure.

Shapiro is among the most popular Democratic governors in the country. He is a pragmatic executive with broad appeal and proven ability to win as a Democrat in a swing state.

According to his recent book, when Harris’s team vetted him as a potential running mate, he refused to yield to their demands that he retract his condemnations of Hamas-supporting protesters following the Oct. 7 massacre.

They also apparently asked him whether he had ever been an agent for the State of Israel, a blatantly absurd question for an American public servant of his stature.

Instead of selecting Shapiro, Harris chose Walz, and lost overwhelmingly.

New York’s democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has embraced an agenda that systematically strips the local Jewish community of safeguards against attack. GC Images

Since the 2024 election, Walz has struggled to maintain credibility within his own state, and will not seek reelection.

In sum: Harris elevated a weaker, less-qualified leader to avoid offending the party’s anti-Israel activist wing.

Harris’ VP choice serves as a cautionary tale: when parties sideline their strongest leaders to appease ideological extremists, they lose.

Unfortunately, the Democratic Party refuses to learn from past mistakes.

California State Sen. Scott Wiener, a prominent San Francisco progressive and co-Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus vying to succeed Nancy Pelosi, recently capitulated to far-left pressure by publicly labeling Israel’s self-defense actions in Gaza a “genocide.”

That was not conviction; it was political survival.

That a Democratic candidate feels compelled to adopt extremist language to survive a primary should alarm anyone concerned about the party’s future.

In Los Angeles, mayoral candidate Nithya Raman operates within the ideological ecosystem shaped by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

The DSA platform explicitly rejects Zionism, embraces the antisemitic “boycott, divestment, and sanctions” (BDS) movement (which only targets one side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), and frames Israel as a colonial enterprise.

Increasingly, the DSA backs candidates in major cities who align with these positions.

In New York, Zohran Mamdani, also part of the DSA, has embraced an agenda that systematically strips the local Jewish community of safeguards against attack. Under the guise of “anti-Zionism,” his movement seeks to remove Jews from the ranks of “protected” minority lists” minorities, unless they renounce their connection to Israel.

These views are increasingly normalized under the banner of justice and human rights. But attacking Israel and Jews does not advance genuine human rights. It promotes rigid ideological agendas, using moral language that discourages scrutiny or debate.

The alternative path is one of credibility and seriousness, focused on issues that matter to most Americans. It is the path of leaders who refuse to surrender truth to extremists, who understand that defending liberal values means rejecting antisemitism in all forms, including when rebranded as “anti-Zionism.”

America’s strength has always rested on its founding liberal values and democratic alliances. A Democratic Party that cannot recognize this risks losing elections and its claim to moral leadership.

The choice before Democrats is clear: Will they follow leaders who distort Israel and normalize antisemitism? Or will they elevate those who defend truth, reject extremism, and focus on real challenges facing Americans?

History suggests that parties, and nations, that choose wrongly fail to survive.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Strategic Venture Philanthropist.”