New website shares 2020 candidates’ Israel policies

Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), an organization that supports pro-Israel Democrats, has unveiled a new online platform to allow presidential candidates to share their views on Israel and the Middle East with voters.

Mark Mellman, the group’s leader and a top Democratic pollster, told Jewish Insider that the website is “the one place where pro-Israel Democrats can go to find all of the candidates telling us what they want to tell us.” He added, “it’s a unique opportunity to understand candidates’ position on Israel.” The website also includes a searchable archive of articles where presidential hopefuls are quoted on Middle East policy.

The group — which in July announced a hybrid political action committee to support congressional incumbents facing primary challenges for their pro-Israel stance — gave Democratic presidential candidates an open-ended prompt to share their views on Israel policy. “We asked all of the candidates to tell us what they wanted to tell pro-Israel Democrats about their positions on Israel,” Mellman said, noting that candidates’ views would be published without commentary.

Thirteen candidates have already responded to DMFI’s prompt, including frontrunners Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.  

Mellman said the impetus for the website came after hearing from “pro-Israel Democrats who were very interested in what these candidates have to say about Israel-related issues because it hasn’t been a major topic in televised debates.” He called the website “a major opportunity for candidates to tell the pro-Israel community about their views.”