President Biden’s staunchly pro-Israel stance has turned off young voters who increasingly side with Palestinians in the Middle East conflict and now threaten to make the president pay at the ballot box next year.
These voters represent a growing Democratic Party faction that believes Israel is responsible for the conflict and has colonized “indigenous” Palestinians. They are angry that Mr. Biden has sent weapons to Israel and what they say is insufficient humanitarian aid to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. They also are frustrated that the president hasn’t called for a cease-fire.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators across the country have chanted, “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide” or simply “F—- Joe Biden.” On Nov. 4, protesters vandalized a White House fence with red-painted handprints and attempted to cover the damage with Palestinian flags.
The increase in profane chants is the latest sign that Mr. Biden’s base is unraveling as he enters a brutal reelection campaign.
“You don’t want to see any erosion of support because we live in an era where presidential elections are going to be razor-thin,” said Lis Smith, a Democratic Party strategist. “No one, whether it’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden, can afford a big erosion of their base.”
Young voters, who historically lean Democratic, were crucial in sending Mr. Biden to the White House in 2020. Although they became disillusioned with Mr. Biden before war erupted in the Middle East, their frustration has accelerated in the past month as pro-Palestinian demonstrations take hold on college campuses.
A recent Washington Post/ABC News survey found that former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, is leading Mr. Biden by more than 20 percentage points among voters younger than 35. A New York Times/Siena College poll found Mr. Biden leading Mr. Trump among voters younger than 30, but only by a single percentage point.
Mr. Biden is also hemorrhaging support among the Democratic Party’s core constituency: Black, Hispanic and urban voters. Those voters are unlikely to flock to Mr. Trump, but they might stay home on Election Day or back a third-party candidate.
Liberal groups focused on mobilizing young voters have warned Mr. Biden that his pro-Israel stance could depress election turnout.
A coalition of groups focused on gun violence, climate change and other issues told Mr. Biden in a letter that he could expect retribution if he continued supporting Israel and did not immediately call for a cease-fire.
“We mobilized the record youth turnout in 2020 that pushed your ticket over the finish line,” the letter said. “There is no way for a Democratic presidential nominee to win without significant youth voter enthusiasm and mobilization.
“We did not spend hours upon hours knocking on doors and making calls to turn out the vote so that you could support the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians and violations of international law,” it said. “Your legacy hangs in the balance.”
Mr. Biden has rejected calls for a cease-fire.
The groups, which included March for Our Lives, United We Dream and Gen-Z for Change, said in the letter that failing to demand a cease-fire in Gaza is “a moral and political disaster.”
A Quinnipiac University poll released last month found that 76% of respondents believe supporting Israel is in the national interest, but just 51% of adults younger than 35 agreed and only 21% of them approved of Mr. Biden’s handling of the war.
In response to rapidly escalating criticism from his party’s pro-Palestinian wing, Mr. Biden called for humanitarian aid for Gaza and pressured Israel to take brief pauses in attacks to allow civilians to evacuate.
Thousands of Palestinians have died during Israel’s relentless air attacks and ground invasion in response to the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7 raid that massacred 1,400 people in Israel.
Hamas reported that 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Mr. Biden urged Israel on Monday to take “less intrusive” measures in Gaza and warned that hospitals in the territory should be off-limits.
“Well, as we know, I have not been reluctant expressing my concerns with what’s going on,” Mr. Biden told reporters.
The shift in tone has not placated Mr. Biden’s critics.
More than 400 political appointees and staff from dozens of federal agencies sent a letter Tuesday urging Mr. Biden to call for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
The letter is a remarkable show of dissent within the administration to the president’s approach to the conflict. It included signatories from more than 40 agencies, including the FBI and the National Security Council.
“We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the letter said.
The letter is one of several written by administration staff members in opposition to Mr. Biden’s approach to the Israel–Hamas conflict.
Andrew Bates, deputy White House press secretary, highlighted a separate letter from former Biden and Obama administration officials offering support for the president’s strategy.
The letter, shared with CNN, was signed by former Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, three members of Congress, 18 former ambassadors and others.
“We are writing to express our deep appreciation for your moral clarity, courageous leadership, and staunch support of Israel, one of our nation’s strongest allies, in the aftermath of the worst massacre of Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust,” the letter said.
