In the latest party turmoil over Israel’s war on Gaza, Democratic National Committee members voted on Tuesday to kill a resolution calling on the U.S. to halt arms sales to Israel.
“As we approach 2026, it’s not going to go away.”
The resolution had been met with resistance from DNC Chair Ken Martin, despite polls showing overwhelming opposition to Israel’s military actions in Gaza from Democratic voters. The weapons ban resolution was put forward by a first-time DNC member to represent the views of younger party members.
“While it’s disappointing that DNC leadership wasn’t able to recognize that this is an overwhelming popular position, a 90-10 issue within its base, it started a conversation,” the resolution’s author, 26-year-old DNC member Allison Minnerly, told The Intercept. “As we approach 2026, it’s not going to go away, the more we delay having a hard conversation like this one.”
Ahead of the vote, DNC leadership had pressured Minnerly to withdraw the amendment, The Intercept previously reported.
Instead of the resolution calling for an arms ban, a DNC committee advanced an alternative resolution, supported by Martin, that called for a ceasefire in Gaza as well as continued U.S. military support for Israel.
With his alternative resolution set to go before the full DNC, Martin pulled it from consideration. He supported, he said, convening a task force to consider the issue further.
Minnerly, whose day job is registering young voters in Florida, said DNC leadership’s opposition to her resolution would threaten the party’s position with Gen Z voters, who are more likely than their elders to be skeptical of traditional U.S. support for Israel.
Martin, on the other hand, told party members that he was pulling his resolution to promote unity.
“As we’ve seen there’s divide in our party on this issue,” Martin said, according to The Associated Press. “I’ve decided today, at this moment, to listen … so we can move forward united today and have the conversation.”
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