Backing Israel cost Democrats 2024 election, post-mortem reveals

Support for Israel was a key factor in the 2024 loss in the presidential election, an internal Democratic autopsy has found, according to a report by Axios. Senior party officials have concluded that Joe Biden’s unwavering backing of Israel’s genocide on Gaza cost the Democrats critical support among younger and progressive voters.

The findings, which remain under lock and key at the Democratic National Committee (DNC), have fuelled accusations that party leaders are suppressing politically explosive conclusions about the electoral impact of US policy towards Israel. 

Officials who worked on the still-secret review of the 2024 defeat determined that former president Biden’s approach to Israel’s assault on Gaza was a “net-negative” for the party.

READ: Voting against genocide: How Gaza defeated the Democratic establishment

The internal analysis reportedly found that then vice president Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee, lost significant backing due to widespread anger over the administration’s “blank cheque” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

DNC aides are said to have held a closed-door meeting with representatives of the IMEU Policy Project, a pro-Palestinian advocacy group, as part of their post-election review. Hamid Bendaas, a spokesperson for the group, said party officials acknowledged that their own data showed the administration’s Gaza policy harmed Democratic prospects.

“The DNC shared with us that their own data also found that policy was, in their words, a ‘net-negative’ in the 2024 election,” Bendaas explained. Two other senior aides at the organisation reportedly corroborated that account. 

Axios said it independently verified that Democratic officials conducting the autopsy believed that US support for Israel damaged the party’s standing with key voting blocs.

The DNC has confirmed that it consulted widely during its review but denied that the report is being withheld because of its conclusions on Israel. 

Party officials have insisted that they chose not to publish the audit in order to avoid internal divisions and distractions ahead of future elections.

A majority of Americans were strongly opposed Israel’s military assault Gaza, several polls showed at the time. Opposition amongst younger voters was much higher.

Younger voters in particular mobilised in unprecedented numbers around Palestinian solidarity, staging campus protests and pressuring elected officials to demand a ceasefire.

During her brief 2024 campaign, Harris attempted to strike a balance amid what by then was widely considered a genocide, expressing only sympathy for Palestinians while maintaining strong public support for Israel. 

However, she stopped short of publicly breaking with Biden’s policy. In her recent memoir, 107 Days, Harris acknowledged that Biden’s unpopularity, partly driven by what she described as his “blank cheque” for Netanyahu, hurt her electoral prospects. She wrote that she had privately urged the president to show more empathy for civilians in Gaza but declined to criticise him openly during the campaign.

During the early phase of Israel’s assault on Gaza, Biden and several senior US officials publicly repeated unverified Israeli claims that babies had been beheaded, at a pivotal moment when Tel Aviv was seeking to consolidate international backing for its military offensive. 

To date, no credible evidence has emerged to substantiate the allegation of beheaded babies, despite its widespread circulation in political speeches and media coverage at the time. 

In recent public appearances, Harris has conceded that the administration should have done more. “We should have done more as an administration,” she said at a London event promoting her book.

The revelation that senior Democrats privately concluded Gaza policy cost them votes is likely to intensify debate within the party ahead of the 2026 midterms. Activists have called on the DNC to release the findings in full.

READ: Netanyahu and Biden lie to justify their crimes against the Palestinians