Beyond these warring words, though, some argue there’s a deeper, and growing, rift among Democrats regarding Israel. Jeremy Ben-Ami, who heads the liberal advocacy group J Street, told The Daily Beast he sees two emerging camps: One that believes the U.S. government should be a more vocal and active critic of certain Israeli government policies (including settlements—what Kerry did on Wednesday) and one that doesn’t endorse that route.
The latter group would include Schumer and Hoyer, as well as House Foreign Affairs ranking member Eliot Engel, all of whom opposed the Iran deal and argue that speeches like Kerry’s undermine the peace process.
Ben-Ami said he believes far more Democrats are comfortable with U.S. governmental criticism of Israeli policies than with Schumer’s view on the issue. He pointed to the growing number of settlers as particular concerns for Democrats in Congress.
“Those things make a very large portion of the Democratic caucus uneasy at this point, and I think that’s where the rift is at,” he said. “It’s not a question of supporting or not supporting Israel—it’s a question of how.”
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