Progressive Democrats Turn on Israel as Military Operations Resume in Gaza — Undermining America’s Most Vital Middle East Ally

By: Fern Sidman

In a deeply troubling shift that highlights the growing influence of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, several prominent left-wing lawmakers have launched a fresh wave of attacks on Israel following the Jewish state’s decision to resume military operations in Gaza. As detailed in a report on Thursday in The Algemeiner, these lawmakers have not only condemned Israel’s self-defense actions but have resorted to inflammatory accusations of “genocide” while calling for the imposition of a U.S. arms embargo — an unprecedented move against one of America’s most enduring and strategic allies in the Middle East.

On Monday night, Israeli forces, under the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resumed targeted airstrikes in Gaza following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization responsible for the brutal October 7, 2023 massacres that killed over 1,200 civilians and left Israel’s southern border in ruins.

According to the information provided in The Algemeiner report, Netanyahu’s office explained that renewed military operations were necessitated by Hamas’s repeated refusals to release Israeli hostages and its rejection of proposals mediated by U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and other international partners.

Yet instead of standing with America’s most reliable democratic ally in the region, the progressive faction in Congress responded not with solidarity, but with hostile rhetoric, disinformation, and calls for punitive action against Israel.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the most vociferous anti-Israel voice in Congress and a frequent apologist for Palestinian extremism, once again led the charge. In a post on X/Twitter, she falsely claimed Israel had resumed a “genocide” in Gaza and called for a halt to all U.S. arms transfers to the Jewish state, The Algemeiner reported. Tlaib’s accusations ignored both Israel’s efforts to minimize civilian harm and Hamas’s well-documented tactic of embedding fighters in civilian zones to provoke such casualties for propaganda purposes.

The Israeli apartheid regime has resumed its genocide, carrying out airstrikes all across Gaza and killing hundreds of Palestinians. This comes after a complete blockade of food, electricity, and aid.

They will never stop until there are sanctions and an arms embargo.

— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) March 18, 2025

Tlaib’s comments also omitted Hamas’s role in sabotaging the ceasefire by refusing to release Israeli hostages or allow aid distribution mechanisms that didn’t serve its political aims.

Her rhetoric was echoed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire and called for a complete end to U.S. military aid. As per The Algemeiner report, Sanders, who has long aligned himself with the progressive left’s anti-Israel narrative, previously spearheaded a failed Senate effort to impose a partial arms embargo — a stunning deviation from what was once unwavering bipartisan support for Israel.

The 2.2 million people in Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering.

More than 47,000 killed. More than 111,000 injured. Schools, hospitals, homes – all destroyed.

Now Trump wants to force them out of their homeland so he can turn it into a playground for the rich.

Unspeakable. pic.twitter.com/ihs23fhHcI

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 16, 2025

Joining the pile-on was Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), another progressive ideologue, who described images from Gaza as evidence of a “US-backed genocide,” while parroting discredited casualty figures and calling for Israel to be punished through sanctions and military isolation, as was indicated in The Algemeiner report.

In reality, Israel has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties, issuing evacuation warnings, leaflet drops, text messages, and other forms of direct outreach before conducting strikes. The Algemeiner reported that these measures are routinely ignored or undermined by Hamas, which uses schools, hospitals, and mosques as military outposts, deliberately placing civilians in harm’s way to generate international sympathy and manipulate public perception.

Yet such crucial facts are repeatedly left out by progressive lawmakers, who prefer performative outrage over strategic clarity and ideological sloganeering over moral consistency.

More disturbing than the predictable vitriol from the far-left is the complicity — or cowardice — of Democratic leadership figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Once a stalwart supporter of Israel, Schumer has increasingly bent to the will of his party’s radical fringe, seeking to appease the progressive base rather than defend America’s most indispensable ally in the region.

This shift is emblematic of a broader unraveling of bipartisan support for Israel, which, for decades, was a foundational element of U.S. foreign policy. Under pressure from a vocal, activist-driven left, Schumer and others have failed to meaningfully challenge the anti-Israel rhetoric within their ranks, enabling what is fast becoming a mainstream position within the Democratic Party: ostracize Israel, embrace Hamas apologia, and distort the reality of Middle Eastern conflict for political expediency.

The Algemeiner also reported that in a rare show of integrity, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has remained steadfast in his support for Israel, offering an unambiguous statement: “I unapologetically, 100% stand with Israel, and demand the release of all remaining hostages.”

Fetterman’s statement, though simple, is profound in its moral weight—especially when contrasted with the deafening silence of those in his party who treat Hamas as an afterthought while condemning the Jewish state for defending itself.

His voice stands in contrast to the appeasement and equivocation of his Democratic colleagues — a testament to the fact that support for Israel need not be a partisan issue, even as others try to make it one.

Rather than standing with Israel in its existential fight against Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that deliberately embeds itself within civilian populations, far-left lawmakers have chosen instead to vilify the Jewish state in language that echoes the talking points of its enemies.

The consequences of this shift are not limited to political optics. As The Algemeiner report has noted, the progressive narrative emboldens terrorist actors, weakens alliances, and undermines the principles of justice and security that should form the foundation of U.S. foreign policy.

At a time when Israel is confronting existential threats and working tirelessly to rescue hostages and protect its civilians, the idea that the U.S. Congress would consider cutting off arms or imposing sanctions on Israel—rather than supporting it unequivocally—is not only misguided but morally bankrupt.

If the Democratic Party continues down this road—abandoning Israel in pursuit of progressive approval—it risks losing its standing as a party of principled international leadership. The abandonment of Israel by the far-left, and the silence of figures such as Chuck Schumer, will be remembered not only as a political failure but as a moral one.