Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH), in a webinar with Democratic Majority for Israel on Tuesday, emphasized that colleagues who push to block aid to Israel or recognize a Palestinian state risk emboldening Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran when they are on their back foot.

Landsman also laid out what he sees as preconditions for rebuilding Democratic support for the Jewish state.

“Saying, ‘We’re going to withhold aid, we’re going to unilaterally call for a Palestinian state’ — which exists where? Is that all of Israel? What are you talking about? — that suggests to Hamas, ‘Maybe we should keep fighting,’” Landsman said. “I don’t think that’s their intent. I think that it’s entirely appropriate to be critical of the government and decisions … without abandoning our ally.”

“Witholding aid does undermine our ally in a way that is really significant,” Landsman continued.

He said he’s trying to push colleagues in that direction. He added later that he believes that the war in Gaza is a “just war,” even if “it needs to come to an end.”

Asked about the longer-term path toward rebuilding Democratic support for Israel, Landsman said that an end to the war and new leadership in Israel would likely be critical steps in that direction.

“Once we get on the other side of this and we have a government that’s really actively pursuing peace, then the path for a lot of these folks who have felt alienated, to come back. I think is pretty clear,” Landsman said. 

He added that peace must also come alongside continued efforts to beat back threats. “You do have to take out these terror armies, and you have to marginalize and completely sideline Iran as a threat, which is going to require constant work.”

He said he was encouraged to see the deal put forward by the Trump administration on Monday, arguing that the war “needs to end for a whole host of reasons,” including freeing the hostages and surging aid into Gaza.

“Israel’s standing in the international community has been diminished, which is a key strategy for Hamas. And this is one of the reasons why I think Netanyahu has got to figure out a way to end this war, because Hamas is succeeding at delegitimizing Israel in a way that is really harmful, way more so than anything it could do militarily,” Landsman said. “I think you’ve got to take that off the table, and that means ending the war.”

Landsman also said that “there’s still limited pressure on Hamas to end this war” and called on the Trump administration to employ “maximum leverage, maximum pressure” on the group, including by detaining Hamas leaders in Qatar.

He added that surging aid is “the right thing to do, it’s the Jewish thing to do and it’s also just strategically what has to happen if Israel is going to maintain its standing in the world and continue to get support.”

He said that positive steps are being taken but added that there are “serious issues with UNRWA that the U.N. and the international community have not gotten serious about.”

He also emphasized the need for an Arab-nation compact to bring the war to an end and deradicalize and rebuild Gaza with a new government that seeks peace with Israel.

“Get all 22 of them involved in a very formal and committed, long-term, sustainable way,” Landsman said. “I think that helps achieve the goals that we collectively have for ending this war and getting Gaza to a place where Hamas is gone, the strip is deradicalized and we’re in a position to help them rebuild with a new governing authority that wants peace with the state of Israel.”

Landsman suggested that such an effort could also unlock Arab-Israeli peace.

“An Israel that’s seeking peace is quite popular. I think that’s what [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] would support. Once this war is over and there is a pathway to peace because these terror armies have been defeated … I think these folks do come back and say, ‘Okay, let’s be part of something,’” Landsman continued.

He said that the Trump administration needs a larger team, working full-time, on pursuing Middle East peace in the longer term. “You’ve got to get ironclad commitments from all of these countries. It’s got to be formal. They’ve got to come together in a formal, sustainable way.”

Without continuous White House pressure and attention, he warned that any peace that is reached is likely to crumble.

Democratic Majority for Israel suggested in a new searing statement that the Trump administration’s warning to Qatar about the impending Israeli attack in Doha earlier this week may have foiled the effort.

The Democratic pro-Israel group is taking a different approach to the strike than most Democratic lawmakers, who have been highly critical of the operation, with few exceptions.

“After years of criticizing Democrats — despite our party’s 75-year history of supporting Israel — President Donald Trump yesterday broke with our vital ally in an unprecedented manner,” DMFI CEO Brian Romick said in a statement.

“He even went as far as to direct his special envoy to alert Qatar, and in so doing risked alerting Hamas, about the attack,” Romick said. “The White House must answer whether their pre-warning of the attack in any way compromised Israel’s ability to eliminate Hamas’ terrorist leadership.”

Trump said in a statement on Truth Social that he “immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack.” Qatari officials have said that the U.S. warning came while the strike was underway and explosions had already begun; another U.S. official told Axios the same.

Romick also criticized Trump for breaking publicly with Israel over the strike, which the president has condemned.

“Trump used his platform to undermine Israel at a time when we must demonstrate a unified front to get the hostages home and bring a negotiated end to the conflict,” Romick said.

The pro-Israel Democratic party group Democratic Majority for Israel issued a scathing statement on Monday criticizing the party’s progressive wing amid New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the “globalize the intifada” slogan and the North Carolina state party’s recent passage of several anti-Israel resolutions, including one endorsing an arms embargo against the Jewish state. 

DMFI President Brian Romick said in a lengthy statement that the incidents, which he described as “a series of deeply troubling developments” — including the National Education Association’s adoption of a measure barring the use of any teaching materials from the Anti-Defamation League — were a reflection of “a growing willingness to excuse or embrace rhetoric and policies hostile to the safety of Jewish Americans, to Israel, and to those who support its right to exist in peace and security.”

“None of these incidents occurred in isolation. Together, they reflect a troubling pattern: the erosion of core pillars of the Democratic Party and the marginalization of pro-Israel voices across the progressive landscape,” Romick, who took over as president and CEO of the group in May, said.

“The path forward demands courage, clarity, and conviction — and DMFI will not waver. In this moment, Democrats must remain united in defending democracy and our shared values. The pro-Israel community has always been and will always be part of that coalition, working together to ensure our party reflects both our ideals and our commitment to a just, inclusive future for all,” he added.

Regarding Mamdani and the debate over how to treat the phrase “globalize the intifada,” Romick said, “Let’s be clear: this phrase is not a call for justice or equality. It is a call for bloodshed. We urge Mr. Mamdani to say so plainly and unequivocally and to engage with Jewish New Yorkers, whether they supported him in the primary or not, in order to understand the community’s legitimate fears and concerns. There should be no place in our party nor our country for slogans that celebrate terror or glorify violence.”

The DMFI president also criticized North Carolina state party leaders for even considering a resolution to call for an arms embargo, calling it “factually inaccurate and morally unserious” and accusing leading Democrats of forcing it “through without following the proper process and procedures, ignoring the valid concerns of many party members who sought a more thoughtful debate.”

“Rather than building consensus to help elect Democrats, the resolution deepened divisions at a moment when the party should be united,” Romick said.

Romick defended the ADL following the NEA’s decision to cut ties with the group, describing the group as “an organization with a long and bipartisan record of fighting hate and educating students about civil rights, antisemitism, and the Holocaust.”

“We urge the NEA’s executive committee to reject this proposal and reaffirm the union’s commitment to combating hate and uphold its responsibility to educate our children with history, facts, and without bias,” he said.

Reached for comment on Romick’s criticisms, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson referred Jewish Insider to a newly released statement from DNC Chairman Ken Martin, made before Romick spoke out.

“The Democratic Party is a big tent. It means we are a political home for people from every background who believe in justice, equality, dignity and opportunity for all. It means we champion those who have been marginalized — including Jewish Americans, who have joined with others in the big tent to help shape the values of this party. But being a big tent doesn’t mean there’s space for hate,” Martin said, days after he made a more ambivalent statement regarding Mamdani’s refusal to condemn “globalize the intifada” rhetoric.

“Let me be clear, at a time of rising antisemitism, there’s no place for rhetoric that can be seen as a call to violence. There is no room in the Democratic Party for hate speech or incitement to violence and calls to ‘globalize the intifada.’ That is not progressive. That is not justice. And let me be clear: there is no room in the Democratic Party for that rhetoric or any rhetoric that can be seen as a green light to terror,” he continued.

Martin pointed to his relationship with former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who were killed in a politically motivated assassination last month. 

“This is personal to me. Two of my close, close friends – Melissa and Mark Hortman – were just murdered in cold blood by a madman. There are real life consequences to hate speech that incites people to violence,” Martin said.

Former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), now the board chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, blasted the North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) leadership for what she described as allowing anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism within the state party, in a statement first shared with Jewish Insider.

Manning’s statement comes ahead of anticipated North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee votes this weekend on a resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel and accusing it of apartheid and genocide — along with a resolution drawing equivalence between Israel and Hamas, saying both committed “terrorism” and have taken “hostages” and calling for the U.S. to exert influence to remove Israeli officials from power, among several others.

“Time and time again, the Jewish Caucus of North Carolina has attempted to unify and collaborate with the leadership of the North Carolina Democratic Party, which seems unwilling or unable to reciprocate. Instead, Party Chair Anderson Clayton and First Vice Chair Jonah Garson have continued to tolerate extreme anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism from within the party on social media, in executive committee meetings, and even in the exclusion of Jewish members from Interfaith Caucus meetings,” Manning said in her statement.

“DMFI condemns the continued tolerance of bad faith actors within the NCDP, and we stand with the Jewish Caucus in urging all members of the NCDP State Executive Committee to vote for unity tomorrow,” she continued.

Clayton responded in a statement, “Running a big tent party means having many different view points. I have long maintained that there is a big difference between valid criticisms of the Israeli Government and antisemitism and have made abundantly clear that there is no place for antisemitism in our party.”

State party resolutions are generated at the local level, and voted up from precincts, to county to congressional district party groups, before being considered by the party’s Resolutions Committee, which votes on sending resolutions to the State Executive Committee for a final vote.

The resolution votes are the latest development in the ongoing tensions between Jewish Democrats in North Carolina and the state party. The state party, in 2023, voted against recognizing the NCDP Jewish Caucus, a vote condemned by senior leaders in the state, including now-Gov. Josh Stein.

The party has also repeatedly been roiled by heated fights over Israel policy in its state party platform. Party leadership members, including the chair of the NCDP’s Interfaith Caucus, expressed support for the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel in the days following those atrocities.

The NC Jewish Caucus said in a statement that it has been trying for months to work “in good faith with party leaders to promote a balanced, inclusive approach to complex international issues” but “those efforts have been met with resistance throughout the party’s resolutions process.”

The statement called the resolutions, particularly the Israel arms embargo, “troubling” and accused the party’s Resolutions Committee of focusing “on only a select few issues, chief among them matters regarding Israel.”

“I’m deeply disappointed that a vocal minority within our party continues to sow division,” Caucus President Lisa Jewel said. “At a time when antisemitic incidents are on the rise across the state, double the national average according to recent data, the Jewish Caucus has repeatedly called for unity, yet the Resolutions Committee chose to focus on wedge issues that, ultimately, would result in harm to our friends and family.”

She urged the party leadership to “reaffirm party unity, refocus on electability, and reject virtue signaling distractions that divide us at the expense of progress,” and pointed blame toward the Interfaith Caucus as the driving force behind anti-Israel advocacy within the state party.

Though the issues at play in the upcoming votes aren’t new for the NCDP, the votes come at a time when Jewish Democrats nationwide are feeling politically homeless and alarmed by the growing acceptance of antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism — trends underscored by Zohran Mamdani’s nomination as the Democratic standard bearer in the New York City mayoral race. 

The North Carolina Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democratic Majority for Israel, a top pro-Israel advocacy group, is announcing a new president and board chair, after a recent leadership shake-up that resulted in the sudden departure of its founder last month.

The organization said in a statement to Jewish Insider on Friday that Brian Romick, a longtime senior aide to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), will serve as president and CEO, succeeding Mark Mellman, a veteran Democratic pollster who founded the group in 2019 to counter growing anti-Israel sentiment on the left.

Former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), a pro-Israel stalwart and Jewish Democrat who has previously chaired the Jewish Federations of North America, will lead DMFI’s board of directors, the group said.

In a statement shared with JI, Romick, who has helped guide Hoyer’s efforts to advance pro-Israel legislation and fight antisemitism, called DMFI “an essential voice in Washington and in the pro-Israel community across the country,” particularly during what he characterized as a “critical moment in the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

“I want to thank DMFI’s leadership and staff for their efforts over the last six years to build a robust presence in the Democratic Party that reflects our shared values with Israel,” Romick continued. “With the House and Senate in play during the upcoming midterm elections, I am committed to working with Kathy, the board and the staff to expand DMFI’s impact and ensure we are supporting pro-Israel Democrats next year.”

Manning, for her part, said that she was “thrilled to chair DMFI’s board at this very important time for the U.S.-Israel relationship and for the Democratic Party,” while also thanking “the past leadership for establishing DMFI and turning it into a vibrant and formidable organization with an outsized impact. 

“I look forward to building on the strong foundation they have created,” Manning said in the statement.

DMFI has not shared a reason for Mellman’s abrupt departure in mid-April, which came as something of a surprise to political observers. He has not publicly addressed the matter.

Mellman had also served as the chairman of DMFI’s super PAC, which has become a prominent player in key Democratic primary battles where conflicts over Israel have featured prominently. The group has yet to select a new chair of its political arm, DMFI PAC, which will be a pivotal role as it begins to strategize in advance of next year’s primaries.

DMFI, for its part, has in recent weeks staked out an increasingly adversarial approach to the new Trump administration, expressing concern that it is leaving Israel exposed amid a U.S. ceasefire agreement with the Houthis in Yemen and criticizing the president’s plans to accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar as a threat to national security.

In a statement shared with JI on Friday, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), a pro-Israel champion backed by DMFI PAC, voiced confidence Romick and Manning would guide DMFI “through an ever-more complex and challenging era for the set of issues at the core of its focus.”

“Kathy and Brian are the right leaders for this moment when Democratic Majority for Israel’s mission is more important than ever,” added Todd Richman, a current co-chair of DMFI’s board. “Their deep experience and accomplishments on Capitol Hill, in Democratic politics, and as leading pro-Israel advocates will build on DMFI’s record of achievement.”

DMFI also announced two new additions to its board: Lisa Eisen, the co-president of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and the founding board chair of Israel on Campus Coalition; and Stuart Kurlander, a retired partner at Latham & Watkins who has served as a president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington  

In January, the group named Brian Abrahams, a longtime pro-Israel activist who previously worked for the bipartisan lobbying group AIPAC, as its new vice president and chief advancement officer.