DMFI’s 2023 Efforts Across the Country
DMFI helped elect more than 100 new pro-Israel allies to the California Democratic Party’s State Central Committee, which votes on the platform, resolutions, endorsements, and other matters. At the same time, we defeated 22 anti-Israel incumbent delegates who were behind previous attempts to use the state party to attack Israel. Over the course of the month-long voting period, we sent over a quarter million texts and had over 50k phone conversations with voters in races where the winning candidates needed relatively few votes. This new, reliably pro-Israel bloc will play a key role in the battles to come.
In June, we attended the 2023 California Democratic Party State Convention. In previous years we’ve seen anti-Israel resolutions at party conventions in California — resolutions that threatened to divide us. DMFI mobilized delegates, provided them briefing materials, and collaborated with key supporters to successfully defend Israel’s legitimacy and defeat harmful and divisive proposals. That’s important because when the largest state Democratic Party in the country reaffirms its strong support for Israel in public battles, it sends a powerful message.
Over the last 4 years, anti-Israel activists have regularly attempted to move the California Democratic Party in their direction through the state party platform and numerous anti-Israel resolutions. This year, in a sign that our efforts are working, there was only one anti-Israel resolution proposed. Thanks to the strong relationships we’ve forged with pro-Israel state party operatives, we were able to stop it in its tracks.
The 2023 Young Democrats of America (YDA) Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada was attended by more than 1,000 members from across the country. DMFI was one of the main sponsoring organizations for the event. Throughout the week we engaged with participants at our booth, educating them about the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship, as well as about DMFI and our vital work.
We spoke to YDA’s Jewish Caucus and co-hosted an event with them that was attended by delegates from across the country. We also met with top YDA leaders to discuss our agenda. We were proud to meet with pro-Israel champions like Senator Jacky Rosen, as well as elected officials from around country like Genevieve Mina, a young state legislator from Alaska.
As North Carolina’s Democratic Party elected new leaders at its convention, DMFI helped stop a key anti-Israel candidate from being elected to the third highest position within the party. Our central goal was to stop an anti-Israel activist from winning the third highest position in the party. The anti-Israel activist sponsored all of hostile proposals about Israel in the North Carolina Democratic Party during the past year and, if they won this election, promised to offer more from a position of power.
DMFI Helps Ensure a Pro-Israel Platform Prevails at the 2022 California Democratic Party Convention
In response to the attempts of a small number of anti-Israel activists to insert divisive and one-sided language about Israel into the 2022 California Democratic Party platform, DMFI mobilized more than 400 delegates, provided them briefing materials, and collaborated with key supporters in the weeks leading up to and throughout the virtual California Democratic convention.
The Party continued its proud tradition and passed a strong pro-Israel platform, reiterating California Democrats’ support for a two-state solution and affirming that Israelis and Palestinians deserve security, dignity, independence, and the right to self-determination.
Our work did not go unnoticed. California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, chair of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, told the Jewish News of Northern California, “The [Jewish] Caucus is grateful to Democratic Majority for Israel and all the groups out there who did this important grassroots work.”
When the largest state Democratic Party in the country reaffirms its strong support for Israel in public battles like this, it sends a powerful message to others hoping to do the same. “Victories like this demonstrate both the critical need for Democratic Majority for Israel and the strong support for Israel among Democrats,” said DMFI President and CEO Mark Mellman in a statement.
National and State Party Platform Successes in 2019 and 2020
At the national level, DMFI successfully advocated for a strong platform that expands upon the Democratic Party’s proud tradition, and Joe Biden’s long history, of supporting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. We submitted testimony to the Party on the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and attended the virtual Democratic National Convention. Read our statement on the 2020 Democratic National Platform here.
We also led efforts across several states in 2019 and 2020 to ensure pro-Israel state party platforms. We led a coalition effort in California, including several pro-Israel organizations, that successfully fought back against a series of anti-Israel amendments to the party platform. The amendments, none of which passed, would have advanced policies that threatened the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, cut off all aid to Israel and endorsed the BDS Movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) targeting Israel. We recruited over 850 delegates and worked with party leaders, activists, and elected officials to defeat these hostile amendments. Read our statement on the 2019 California Democratic Party platform here and read our op-ed in the Jerusalem Post.
2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates on Israel
To help educate the public and our members, we followed all 2020 Democratic presidential candidates and their positions on Israel during the primary season. Each campaign provided official statements, while we collected and made available on our website up-to-date information as candidates made additional statements and answered voters’ questions.
Early Primary State Organizing and Activism
DMFI engaged early in the 2020 primaries mobilizing pro-Israel voters around the country to take action in early states, participate in caucuses, and vote in primaries. Over 3,000 DMFI volunteers attended some 200 meetings with candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire during the run up to the caucuses and primary in those early states.
