Washington, D.C. – Inexplicable. That’s how advocates describe the actions of some Democratic officials who appear to be not just angering members of their own party, but actively angering them because of differing views on the war in Gaza.

Many prominent Democrats, including the United States President Joe Biden, have expressed “unwavering” support for Israel’s military offensive in the Palestinian enclave. But that stance has divided the Democratic base, with polls showing a majority of Americans support a ceasefire.

This division was clearly visible in November when activists held a ceasefire protest outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC. Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman responded with vocation the demonstrators were “pro-terrorist”.

“Apparently these pro-#Hamas protesters want #Republicans to win in the next congressional elections,” he wrote in a social media post.

He also accused the activists of trying to break into the building – a claim refuted by protest organizers Journalists who were at the crime scene. Protesters had tried to block the entrance to the headquarters where a reception was taking place, and police responded by evacuating lawmakers and violently dispersing activists.

But advocates say Sherman’s response was one of many instances of Democratic politicians denigrating their voters over the Gaza war, signaling a disconnect with the party’s base.

“Big political mistake”

Beth Miller, political director of the advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace Action, called Democrats’ attacks on ceasefire activists “pathetic” and “shocking.”

“It’s also a big political mistake,” Miller told Al Jazeera.

She acknowledged this publicly Opinion polls show that most Americans – and an overwhelming majority of Democrats – support an end to hostilities in Gaza.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll In the study released last month, 68 percent of respondents said Israel should declare a ceasefire and negotiate an end to the war. Among Democrats alone, that number rose to 77 percent.

“The fact that these members of Congress are not only rejecting it but are actively attacking these people means, in my opinion, that they don’t read it either political winds about how people will vote and what they will demand in the coming cycle,” Miller said.

The gap between Democratic policies and public opinion has led to declining approval ratings. In October, the Arab American Institute, a think tank, found that there was Arab American support for Biden fell by 42 percentand reached an all-time low.

This downward trend was also reflected in the general public. A recent NBC poll found that 70 percent of voters under 34 disapproved of President Joe Biden’s conduct of the war.

Usamah Andrabi, communications director at Justice Democrats, a progressive group, said the Democratic Party shows it is “in tune” with both its base and the broader electorate.

“It is a mind-boggling calculation that the president and the White House are much closer to the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel than the majority of his own Democratic voters at home,” Andrabi told Al Jazeera.

Criticism of calls for a ceasefire

Since the war began, several Democrats, including Biden, have drawn ire for appearing to denigrate activists’ calls for a ceasefire.

Days after the conflict erupted, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave a strongly worded response to a question about lawmakers allegedly “equating the Hamas terrorist attack with Israeli actions.”

Jean-Pierre first asked for clarity about which members of Congress had done this. When the reporter identified them as members “calling for a ceasefire,” she said their statements were “false,” “disgusting,” and “disgraceful.”

It was unclear which statements she was referring to, but many activists took her words as a condemnation of progressive lawmakers pushing for an end to the war.

Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman earned praise from the far-right publication Breitbart last month for waving an Israeli flag in front of ceasefire protesters on Capitol Hill.

Then came the large pro-Israel protests on November 14, where leading Democrats in Congress held hands with their Republican counterparts, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sang “I stand with Israel.” The crowd regularly chanted, “No ceasefire!”

The Biden administration was represented by Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. envoy to combat anti-Semitism, who delivered a speech. The Pro-Israel rally The event was also attended by far-right figures, including Christian Zionist pastor John Hagee, who has been accused of fomenting both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

A day after the rally, two White House communications officials, Andrew Bates and Herbie Ziskend, approvingly shared a Fox News article titled, “Biden allies condemn far-left calls for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war. “

In the article, Democratic lawmakers — including Fetterman and Congressman Ritchie Torres — praised Biden for his support for Israel and admonished those calling for an end to the war as “fringe.”

An anonymous Biden administration official quoted in the story criticized the mainstream media for not being critical enough Rashida Tlaibthe only Palestinian-American member of Congress.

Criticism of Palestinian rights advocates continued this week when Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider gave an interview to Fox News.

He called for revoking the tax-exempt status of groups he alleged were funneling money “to terrorist organizations,” citing, without evidence, the advocacy group American Muslims for Palestine. He added that “groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and others should not receive these tax benefits.”

“Core voting principles”

Andrabi of the Justice Democrats sees this type of rhetoric as damaging to Democratic politicians’ relationships with their supporters.

“What we see is the Biden administration trying to make the American people believe that their majority who support a ceasefire are somehow radical and fringe, while the only people who are radical and fringe are the coalition between “Netanyahu’s far-right government and Biden’s White House,” Andrabi said.

He rejected arguments that the war would not damage Biden’s standing with voters as he seeks re-election in 2024.

Foreign policy is rarely a top priority for voters. But advocates say the level of violence in Gaza has made it a crucial issue for many voters. Some United Nations experts even went so far as to warn: “a great risk of genocide“.

“I don’t think anyone will forget this in a year. And what the Democrats are doing is asserting that this doesn’t matter,” Andrabi explained. But he added: “It’s so important to so many of their core constituencies.”

Delaware State Representative Madinah Wilson-Anton, who was part of a Hunger strike As he called for a ceasefire at the White House this week, he expressed confusion about the position of mainstream Democrats.

“I’m trying to figure out what the reason is,” she told Al Jazeera, expressing her disappointment with Biden.

“People feel cheated. People feel like they were led to believe that he was this moral leader who would restore the soul of America.”

New York State Representative Zohran Mamdani said Americans are desperate for a government that represents them and their demands. He expressed surprise that calls for a ceasefire were seen as controversial.

“I don’t know how you can describe this demand as something that is far left. “That is the most common foreign policy demand in America today,” he said.