The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) has approximately 20 affiliated organizations (AOs), which include caucuses and auxiliaries representing various demographics and interests, e.g., the Progressive Caucus, the Interfaith Caucus, the Muslim Caucus and the Jewish Caucus. The authors of this statement are members of the Jewish Caucus, but we are speaking as Jewish individuals, not as representatives of the Jewish Caucus.
These AOs are designed to operate at both the state and county level to reach and mobilize their various communities to support Democratic Party goals. The primary goal of Democrats in North Carolina and the AOs is to elect Democrats, to protect the people of North Carolina from the politics espoused by the Republican Party and the Trump Administration. We are the party fighting for democracy at home by advancing reproductive rights, advocating for reasonable gun control measures, combating global warming, ensuring free and fair elections (which includes early voting, absentee voting, and vote by mail), protecting the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, supporting fair taxation and opposing tax cuts for the wealthiest.
The Jewish Caucus’ mission statement aligns with our work as individuals and as a caucus: we are dedicated to the Jewish concept of tikkun olam – repairing our world through social justice and compassion. Not only did we hold multiple fundraisers, write thousands of get-out-the-vote postcards, and conduct door-to-door canvassing for Democratic candidates in 2024, but our membership also includes lots of precinct officers, SEC members, and Congressional district officers. Moreover, our caucus recently issued a press release critical of the Trump Administration using the pretext of combatting antisemitism for unconstitutional actions against individuals, some of whom may have participated in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, and institutions of higher learning.
Given our belief in tikkun olam, how do we as Jewish Democrats address the Israel-Gaza war?
We, like most Jews, believe in and support the right of the democratic State of Israel to exist as a Jewish homeland. The modern State of Israel was formed after WWII to provide a Jewish homeland to the Jewish people after the Holocaust claimed 6 million Jewish lives. Like a vast number of Israelis, we oppose the current government of Israel, its West Bank policies and/or the way it is conducting the war in Gaza.
We are critical of the Israeli policy that has contributed to the human-made disaster faced by the Palestinians in Gaza. Of course Hamas (and its sponsor Iran) has responsibility for creating and exacerbating the tragedy since October 7, 2023, when it murdered 1,200 Israelis and took more than 240 hostages, 50 of whom are still in Gaza of which 20 are believed to still be alive. But that does not absolve Israel from its obligations to people in territory it now controls. Starvation cannot be employed as a tool of war. Thus, it is fair to discuss an arms embargo for offensive weapons that are being used against civilian populations.
On August 26, 2025, the Democratic National Committee considered a pair of dueling resolutions on the U.S. – Israel relationship, including one that called for a military arms embargo and suspension of military aid to Israel. The other resolution, a more traditional mainstream compromise approach, called for unrestricted aid to Gaza and a two-state solution. The stated reason for the delay in adopting either of these resolutions regarding Israel was a desire to work towards party consensus. Why is a consensus necessary? Because Democrats must be unified towards one single goal: stopping Trump’s authoritarian regime and putting our country back on track towards democracy.
But here in North Carolina, we do not have consensus but an intra-party battle: members of several AOs promoted a cluster of poorly thought-out anti-Israel resolutions that divide us as a state party and are counterproductive to achieving the core objective of the NCDP—defeating Republicans and their undemocratic policies.
Just as we are capable of criticizing the United States without questioning its right to exist, so too is the NCDP able to criticize Israel and yet affirm its right to exist as a Jewish state. However, these resolutions recently passed by the NCDP not only argue for an arms embargo against Israel but also question whether the State of Israel should continue to exist. Language like, “The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, along with the longer-term illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel,” and references to “all inhabitants of Israel/Palestine” are not consistent with a two-state solution.
Rather than a plea for peace, the Middle East resolutions passed by the NCDP read like a moral condemnation of Israel and, implicitly, anyone who supports it.
As a whole, the resolutions imply that this anti-Israel narrative is the position of the NCDP. This may force our candidates to distance themselves from positions taken by our party and divert attention from issues that can help us win elections. These resolutions may lead many to believe there is no place in the NCDP for those who support the State of Israel.
We don’t need a statement from NCDP leadership regretting the adopted resolutions. Nor do we need platitudes about antisemitism. We need a clear statement from party leadership that the NCDP recognizes the legitimacy of the State of Israel. And we would like an affirmation that supporters of Israel have a place in the North Carolina Democratic Party.
Steven Abrams
Jeff Bierer
Robert Hyman
Amy Lefkof
Stefanie Mendell
Irwin Orenstein
Joel Rosch
Kenneth Schorr
Eric Sidman
Elizabeth Weinstein
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