In early 2020, when I told members of a group called Jews for Bernie that Bernie Sanders’s position on Israel was a two-state solution, they were genuinely surprised.
More accurately: They were disappointed.
I had just joined the Sanders campaign as his Jewish outreach director, and I was excited about the opportunity. I’d long resonated with Sanders’s progressive positions on healthcare, the economy, and social issues as well as his support for American diplomacy abroad. And I was hopeful that I could help elect the first Jewish president in American history.
The reason I was hired was clear to me. The campaign understood that Jews—who have long voted overwhelmingly for Democrats—were an important constituency for Sanders, and they worried that anti-Zionist voices in his coalition would jeopardize his Jewish support.
But very quickly after joining, I realized there had been a profound misunderstanding on the part of the campaign team: Many of the activists trying to get Sanders elected—and who the campaign depended on—were not looking for a candidate who supported Israel’s existence. That I did was a letdown for them, but one that they had to swallow.
