News

In March 2023, California Jewish Democrats stood with the people of Israel for their right to protest against anti-democratic proposals by Prime Minister Netanyahu which would undercut the rule of law and bypass judicial processes. Unfortunately, we are now facing the similar threats to rule of law and judicial independence here in the United States.

Just over a month into office there have been over fifty lawsuits against the Trump Administration for circumventing the law, from the  firings of tens of thousands of government employees and watchdogs, to the unconstitutional impoundment of government funds and the attempts at summary deportation of thousands of immigrants, including those here with legal documentation, without due process of law.

As Jewish Democrats we believe that the civil rights of Jewish students in educational settings must be protected to the same extent as those of any other students. Antisemitism in such settings must be addressed with the same degree of urgency as hate speech directed at any other minority population. Codes of conduct must be applied equally to all members of school and university communities, in a viewpoint-neutral fashion. In the past 17 months, in too many schools and on too many campuses, this has not been the case. 

At the same time, upholding those civil rights, combating antisemitism and ensuring that that material support of terrorism is not tolerated, must always take place within the rule of law including established protections for speech and due process under law. The First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment are not disposable, even if we find the person asserting those rights to have values that are abhorrent to us and to most Americans.

This is not about any one person or specific individual, but rather about ensuring the government follows its own laws. The Jewish community should not be the platform upon which our Constitution can be disregarded. 

Over the weekend, the California Democratic Party completed the election of 1,120 delegates through its ADEM elections. The results show Democratic activists soundly rebuking attempts by a fringe groups to target the Jewish community, reduce party participation and force the party to change its support for Israel to support a unilateral arms embargo and weaken the party's support for a Two-State Solution.  

Thanks to your help, Labor and the Jewish community mobilized - we fought back and won.

Tens of thousands of California Democrats voted across 80 Assembly Districts to elect 7 self identified females and 7 other than self-identified females in each district. Calfornia Jewish Democrats-backed candidates, made up of allied progressives and moderates, won at least 298 of the 310 seats in the 30 districts we got involved in (and allied efforts picked up over 100 additional delegate spots) and over 45 of our members were elected adding to the 200 or more who are already on the Democratic Party State Committee. Those who backed the antisemitic and antidemocratic platform failed to take even a majority of seats in all districts but 7.

Congratulations to the winners! California Jewish Democrats were proud to support.  A special thank you to the local Jewish Democratic clubs that got involved in Marin, Sacramento, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego as well as the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, local elected leaders and activists.  These candidates could not have done it without their help as well as your support and vigilance.

Democrats for Israel California changes name to California Jewish Democrats

We want to share some updates regarding our California Democratic Party’s chartered organization for outreach to the Jewish community.  As far back as November 2023, the Democrats for Israel California Board made a recommendation to change our name to California Jewish Democrats.  Based on a vote of the membership in December 2024, the recommendation was ratified with 67% of the vote – a first step towards changing our name.  The name change will be formally adopted at the California Democratic Party Convention this coming May.

This forthcoming name change will not change our commitment of support to Israel as a Jewish Democratic State.  Support for Israel as a Jewish, democratic state is enshrined in our bylaws as one of the purposes of the organization.

We decided to change the name for a number of reasons: 

Underscoring our multi-issue focus: A major issue for us has been perceptions that we are a one-issue club focused solely on Israel, making it difficult to address other issues of importance such as combating antisemitism not related to Israel, opposing "Liberated" ethnic studies programs that violate state antisemitism guardrails, and activism around other issues of importance to the Jewish community (including hunger, housing, climate change, reproductive rights) – values and priorities that make us Democrats and were the genesis of our charted club.  

Positioning for greater expansion: Following the models of partisan-Pro Israel/Jewish groups nationally and in other states such as Jewish Democratic Council of America and the North Carolina, New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania Jewish Caucuses and Democratic mobilization groups, we feel this change positions us better to increase outreach into areas where there is a great interest in our mission of getting the mainstream Jewish community to the table of Democratic politics through county-chartered Democratic clubs.  

Alignment with our chartered clubs: Of our 7 currently chartered clubs, five are identified as Jewish Democratic clubs, with Los Angeles and Orange County named  “Democrats for Israel (the similar names also caused some confusion by volunteers and supporters).

As we go through this process, know that our commitment to Israel's security and safety stands strong.  We appreciate your continued support and involvement – with our vibrant statewide council of clubs and the greater Jewish community.  Now, more than ever. Thank you.  

For the second time, the House GOP has tried to use Israel as a political football, playing partisanship with Israel's security.  Republicans have sought to delay any funding for Ukraine or to address border security, and as an attempt to undermine a bipartisan deal, proposed a stand alone Israel funding bill.

House GOP have sought to add poison pills to other bills, pulling out humanitarian provisions from a bill that sought to limit Hamas aid (HR 340).  They also tried to tie Ukraine and Israel funding to cutting IRS funding, which would only help tax cheats.

These cynical ploys are bad for Israel, bad for our national security and bad for our country.

Israel at War: Statement on Hamas attack on Israel

Like the many organizations in the Jewish and non-Jewish world across our nation, Democrats for Israel

California and its many affiliates across the state of California condemn the Friday night attack by the Iranian-backed terrorist Hamas regime in Gaza on Israel.

The brutality of Hamas terrorists is being documented in real time. Women and children beaten and then taken hostage. Kibbutz residents who have worked for peace with the Palestinians for their entire lives butchered by the terrorists. Thousands of rockets launched at random at Israeli cities, villages and kibbutz have killed Israeli children, women and men and injured hundreds more, while Hamas terrorists on the ground have killed hundreds more.

DFI-CA joins its affiliated clubs in condemning this senseless and unprovoked attack on Israel and its citizens, and calls on all members of the Democratic Party and all Americans to rally in support of Israel, as President Biden and his administration has done.

There will be time for investigations about how just such an attack by Hamas was planned and implemented, catching the Israeli Security apparatus by surprise, just as there will be plenty of time for political and military analysts to determine just how much the unrest in the West Bank contributed to this situation. But for now, it is time for Americans to rally behind Israel, the only democracy in the region, in opposition to the terrorism of Hamas and Hamas allies Iran and Hezbollah

Governor Newsom issued a letter to educators urging them to avoid the "bias, bigotry or discrimination" that is present in some "Liberated Ethnic Studies" programs.  The letter comes after requests from Jewish lawmakers, JPAC (supported by DFI-CA and several affiliated clubs) and the Santa Ana school district adopting a related vendor that advocated for courses that portray the Jews as white colonizers, ignoring the large Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewish communities and violating the state's education antisemitism "guardrails" in the ethnic studies guidelines.

Earlier in the week State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond held a meeting and panel with prominent Jewish leaders to further enforce these guidelines called "Education to End Hate: Countering Antisemitism."  

Thank you to our state Democratic officials leadership for being responsive.

Thank you to House Democratic Leadership who released the statement below repudiating Rep. Jayapal's statement that "Israel is a racist state."  There can be policy disagreements between governments and even members of the Knesset both in and out of the governing coalition, but to broadly tarnish an entire nation this way was unacceptable, even at Jayapal later tried to walk it back and apologize.  Thank you to our House Leadership for standing firm with Israel as a country.

The Biden Administration took two major steps following the announcement of the first ever National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism Announcing a historic $1 million increase to the office of the Special  Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, double the request by House Jewish Democrats.  The House and Senate are considering adding appropriations to meet the budget. You can call your House Member (202) 224-3121 to encourage them to support the increase Implementation of a 2019 Executive Order that broadened how the Department of Education and other government agencies defines race and national origin to include the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. The order calls on departments enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including the Department of Education, to adopt the IHRA definition. The order also calls on departments to consider “‘Contemporary Examples of Anti-Semitism’ identified by the IHRA, to the extent that any examples might be useful as evidence of discriminatory intent.”

.     

Los Angeles -  Democrats for Israel California, the official chartered council of clubs for California Jewish Democratic Clubs finished the 2023 California Democratic Party Reorganizing Convention a resounding success.

Over 100 delegates attended the DFI-CA General Membership meeting, voting to affiliate with JDCA and hearing from candidates and amazing speakers such as:

• U.S House Caucus Chair Rep. Peter Aguilar
• State Senate President Pro Temp Toni Atkins
• California Jewish Legislative Caucus Vice Chair State Senator Scott Wiener
• Congressman Adam Schiff
• Augusta Christensen - Political Manager Democratic Majority for Israel

Over 300 delegates attended the Jewish Community Ice Cream Social, cosponsored by DFMI, California Jewish Legislative Caucus, DFI-LA, Silicon Valley Jewish Dem Club, Westside Democratic HQ, West LA Dem Club, CYD Jewish Caucus, Blue Wave Dem Club, American Jewish Committee, and Region 18 Director Connie Sullivan Barasch.  Resolutions reiterating support for the Two State Solution and opposing the rise of ultra-nationalist regimes were advanced by the Resolutions Committee and one anti-Israel resolution was found to be out of order.

As Democrats, we are greatly alarmed by the potential harms to Israeli society by Israel’s new governing coalition, the most right-wing in its history.

The values of the California Democratic Party (CDP) are clear. The CDP’s 2022 Platform states its support for Israel’s future as a secure democratic Jewish state and provides Israelis and Palestinians the right to live with independence, sovereignty, and dignity within their own viable states free from persecution, terror, or incitement.

Consistent with our values and those of the Democratic Party, we continue to support the right of Israel to live securely as a Jewish and democratic state, as it has since 1948.

As we have seen in the rise of other right-wing nationalist governments in Hungary, Poland, Turkey and Italy, the recent elections in Israel have veered the country sharply to the right and away from the democratic principles espoused by its founders — principles that have placed the Jewish state among other western democratic nations.

When Donald Trump was elected President, millions of Americans mobilized to oppose his policies, but they did not advocate for the end of the United States. They mobilized because they loved their country. As American Jews, we are not citizens of Israel, but we recognize that Jewish identity remains intertwined with Israel’s existence.

Criticism of harmful Israeli policy that bears on its democratic character is appropriate as long as it does not embrace antisemitism or seek to delegitimize Israel’s existence. The way to support Israel and its democratic values is to stand with the more than 200,000 Israelis regularly coming out to protest the current government's attempts to undermine its democratic principles. Indeed, as Democrats and as Zionists, we express great alarm at the current government’s proposed policies and stand in solidarity with Israelis of all religions and orientations who seek to protect a democratic Israel.

We stand in solidarity with a democratic Israel because the current far-right government is advancing a proposal to eliminate independent judicial oversight, which would enable members of the government to refuse to comply with the law whenever they choose. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is standing trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust while leading a campaign to destroy the very judicial system responsible for his criminal prosecution, dismantling the separation of powers, eroding the independence of Israel's judges and giving politicians unfettered control.

To accomplish this requires extremist alliances. Enter Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and others, who seemingly have no qualms about dismantling Israeli democracy, disregarding the rights of the LGBTQ community, women, secular Israelis, Reform and Conservative Jews, and other minority groups. This extremist coalition government is ignoring the concerns of the millions in Israel who oppose this anti-democratic judicial overhaul, and members of this extremist coalition government have refused to slow the process and sit down and negotiate reforms that would be acceptable to the vast majority of the Israeli public.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the Palestinian village of Huwara to be wiped out because a terrorist shot and killed Israelis at a settlement nearby. Shortly thereafter, a mob of settlers attacked and torched the town. Further, another member of the coalition government objected to the arrest of Israeli settlers who are connected with the attack. Ben-Gvir has been convicted of incitement to terrorism on multiple occasions. He is a follower of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of Kahanism: a violent, extremist ideology that advocates for and has inspired acts of terror. He and his disciples were rightly banned from Israel's legislature in 1988 on the grounds that their ideology is “racist and undemocratic.” As recently as November 2022, Ben-Gvir attended a commemoration ceremony for Meir Kahane.

We stand in solidarity with a democratic Israel because Israel’s ruling coalition seems bent on imposing radical change to Israel’s political system. We Democrats in the United States have witnessed how a rightward shift of the Supreme Court has impacted the rights of immigrants, expanded Title 42, and reversed Roe v. Wade. A majority of our U.S. Supreme Court Justices have also signaled a readiness to challenge voting rights, election law, and affirmative action. The erosion of minority protections in our own country is deepening and, as noted by Israeli legal experts, the proposed dismantling of the checks and balances of an independent Israeli judiciary would have a similar effect. Democracy is not the power of a temporary, thin legislative majority to permanently —without recourse — oppress and remove the rights of its citizens. We cannot stand by quietly as democratic protections are eroded in both Israel and the United States.

We stand in solidarity because we are concerned for the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people, who desire their own viable, independent state living in peace next to Israel. We are particularly concerned with a guiding principle of the new coalition, which seeks to greenlight unilateral annexation, making a two-state solution virtually impossible and making the establishment of a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians equally impossible. Worse, the goals of this coalition government would normalize a unilateral form of Jewish hegemony from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, creating no options for consenting Palestinians to retain basic human rights of self-determination and taking away the option of their own state. The ruling coalition is in contravention of the national Democratic Party platform, which expressly supports a two-state solution and opposes unilateral actions by either party—whether it be Israelis imposing a single state via annexation or Palestinians attempting to force Israelis into a single-majority Palestinian state through an international campaign of delegitimization and a wildly overbroad interpretation of right of return laws.

As Democrats, we stand in solidarity with those seeking a democratic Israel by standing in opposition to the extreme proposals of Israel’s current coalition government, which are in stark contrast to our party platform and the values enshrined in Israel’s founding Declaration of Independence. Israelis are raising a clear and broad voice to oppose these proposed policies. These voices cannot be ignored.

We stand with the will of the Israeli people to find solutions that benefit all Israelis, protect democracy, and work for a sustainable peace.

● Democrats for Israel California, a council of Jewish Democratic clubs
● Progressive Zionists of California
● Democrats for Israel Los Angeles
● Jewish Democratic Club of Silicon Valley
● Jewish Democratic Club of Solano County