Top Democrat officials who took part in the party's internal examination of the 2024 election defeat said Kamala Harris lost significant backing because of the Biden administration's approach to the war in Gaza, Axios reported.
The Democratic National Committee's report on what went wrong in 2024 has not been released publicly, reflecting concerns about its potential impact within the party.
Liberal and moderate Democrats are divided over Israel, with many on the left more critical of the country's actions in Gaza and opposed to U.S. support for Israel.
During her brief campaign, Harris sought to strike a balance, expressing support for Israel while calling for a ceasefire and sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza, as well as for hostages held by Hamas.
DNC aides assembling the report on Harris' loss to President Donald Trump had a closed-door meeting with a pro-Palestinian group. Activists from the IMEU Policy Project told the DNC that the administration's support for Israel was a factor in the party's losses because it reduced support among some young voters and progressives.
Hamid Bendaas, a spokesperson for the IMEU Policy Project, said that during the meeting "the DNC shared with us that their own data also found that policy was, in their words, a 'net-negative' in the 2024 election."
The IMEU Policy Project accused the DNC of withholding its report in part because of its findings on Israel, but DNC spokesperson Kendall Witmer denied that, Axios reported.
The DNC confirmed that it spoke with the IMEU Policy Project and hundreds of others as part of its analysis and said it was grateful for the discussion but didn't give additional details.
Asked for comment, a Harris aide pointed to the former vice president's recent comments about the war in Gaza during a stop on her book tour for "107 Days."
"We should have done more as an administration," Harris said at the event, adding that "we should have spoken publicly about our criticism" of how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu carried out the war.
Harris wrote that she privately "pleaded" with Biden to show more empathy for civilians in Gaza. But during her campaign, she declined to publicly break with him over Israel, which saw its own civilians slaughtered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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