Jewish Democrats concerned over Maryland’s Democratic party’s leftward tilt

Pro-Israel Democrats in Maryland are wondering how a state with one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country is represented by one of the Senate’s leading Israel critics — with some aspiring Democratic congressional candidates moving toward left-wing positions that until recently were rarely embraced in party circles.

Maryland was represented until 2016 by former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), two pro-Israel stalwarts. Mikulski’s retirement paved the way for Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) ascension from representing Maryland’s Montgomery County-based House district, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in the state, to being the state’s junior senator.

It was only eight years ago that Van Hollen campaigned for the Senate as the pro-Israel candidate in 2016 against a challenger who took a more critical approach to the Jewish state.

Now, Jewish leaders in the state warn that Van Hollen’s standing with the community has plummeted.

“I think you have to take an elected official in their totality, and I think Maryland Jews appreciate the support that the senator has given for their domestic issues. However, theres no doubt in my mind that he is hemorrhaging significant Jewish support because of his perceived lack of sensitivity to Israel during the current war,” Ron Halber, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told Jewish Insider of Van Hollen.

It’s not just Van Hollen who has drawn concern from the Jewish community’s side. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who represents Van Hollen’s old House district, was one of 58 lawmakers (including two Jewish lawmakers) to oppose security funding to Israel in the just-passed supplemental aid package.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a leading contender to serve alongside Van Hollen in the Senate, told the Washington Post that the U.S. should withhold offensive aid to Israel if it invades Rafah. “I do not support an invasion of Rafah and agree with President Biden if [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu does not change course, that the U.S. will need to withhold offensive weaponry,” Alsobrooks said last week.

Alsobrooks’ primary rival, Rep. David Trone (D-MD), a longtime AIPAC donor during his time in the House, has been critical of Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza as he appeals to Democratic voters in the state. The winner of Tuesday’s primary is expected to face popular former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan in the general election. Polls show the Democratic primary contest to be a dead heat.

Theres no doubt that Chris has been saying things that many of us wouldnt have said and dont believe, but he believes what hes saying as an experienced and knowledgeable member of the Foreign Affairs Committee based on what he saw firsthand,” Susie Turnbull, who served as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, told JI.



The public antagonism from some of Maryland’s leading Democratic figures stands in sharp contrast to its northern neighbor, Pennsylvania, where the state’s Democratic governor and junior senator — Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) — are among the biggest champions of Israel and critics of antisemitism in the country. But unlike Maryland, a Democratic stronghold, Pennsylvania is a battleground state, where Democrats have to resonate with swing voters to prevail.

Van Hollen, who will become Maryland’s senior senator next January, is seen by critics as driving the partys shift against Israel — and his role as senior statesman within the party may be fueling down-ballot candidates to follow his lead. He has emerged as one of the leading critics in Congress of Israel’s war effort as up-and-coming lawmakers offer less supportive positions towards the Jewish state.

Theres no doubt that Chris has been saying things that many of us wouldnt have said and dont believe, but he believes what hes saying as an experienced and knowledgeable member of the Foreign Affairs Committee based on what he saw firsthand,” Susie Turnbull, who served as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, told JI.

“Chris was pretty much out there by himself for a while,” she added.

Van Hollen has vocally opposed military aid to Israel without conditions and accused Israel of deliberately causing mass starvation in Gaza back in February.

“Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food,” Van Hollen said from the Senate floor. “That is a war crime — it is a textbook war crime. That makes those who orchestrate it war criminals. So now the question is, what will the United States do?”

He also defended the students protesting on campuses against Israel from recent criticism from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Van Hollen maintains that his positions are not anti-Israel, though a group of over 70 Maryland rabbis wrote to him in March warning that his efforts to target Israel aid “in the Senate have only stoked deeper divisions and further isolated Israel and our Jewish community.”

Van Hollen told JI in a statement, “I am and always have been a strong believer in the U.S. partnership with Israel, and I remain a steadfast friend of the Israeli people. I will never stop supporting Israel’s security and its right to defend itself, including eliminating the military threat of Hamas and securing the release of the hostages.”

“I will continue to listen to [the] views of every Marylander, including all members of the Jewish community — those who agree with me and those who do not. I will continue to speak out against hate and injustice where I see them. And I will continue to fight for a lasting, stable, and secure peace for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples,” the statement, which included a link to the senator’s remarks on Holocaust Remembrance Day, continued.

Youre going to see a reaction in this election coming up. You look at pockets like in Pikesville, in Owings Mills, in Reisterstown, in places like Silver Spring and Rockville, where there are pretty significant Jewish populations and are predominantly Democrat,” a Democratic state lawmaker told JI.



Most Jewish Democrats in the state reached by JI were hesitant to speak on the record about Van Hollen’s growing hostility to Israel, with many defending Van Hollen by pointing to his vote for the overall foreign aid package that funded Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

“Antisemitism and complaining about the Israeli government are not one in the same and now theyre molding together like youve never seen. Where we stand right now is so difficult, and so I do understand that Chris rhetoric on this has not been helpful that way,” Turnbull said.

But when granted anonymity to speak freely, multiple Democratic sources in Maryland predicted that a surge of Jewish voters in Montgomery and Baltimore counties would back Hogan’s Senate campaign as a direct result of Van Hollen’s position on Israel.

Youre going to see a reaction in this election coming up. You look at pockets like in Pikesville, in Owings Mills, in Reisterstown, in places like Silver Spring and Rockville, where there are pretty significant Jewish populations and are predominantly Democrat,” one of those Democrats, a state lawmaker, told JI.


Chris Van Hollens position on this is completely out of step with Maryland, Marylanders and common sense,” Bobby Zirkin, who served with Van Hollen in the state Senate, said. He is in the far-left fringe of the Democratic Party at this point in his career. I dont know when he decided to move there because that was not who he was when he was a state senator, but he has slowly moved there.



“I would venture a very strong guess that Larry [Hogan] is going to do exceptionally well in those areas and part of that is a reaction to Van Hollen. I think hes going to get a very stern message in this election,” they continued. “I dont know if hes going to read it correctly, but I can tell you that the number of Marylanders who have said to me that because of Chris Van Hollen, they are absolutely not voting for the Democratic candidate for this U.S. Senate seat is high.”

Another individual, who asked that their profession not be identified, suggested that Alsobrooks would have a difficult time rallying Jewish voters in November due to her association with Van Hollen.

Bobby Zirkin, who served with Van Hollen in the state Senate, was one of the few Democrats to speak publicly about growing dissatisfaction with the senator.

Chris Van Hollens position on this is completely out of step with Maryland, Marylanders and common sense,” Zirkin told JI. He is in the far-left fringe of the Democratic Party at this point in his career. I dont know when he decided to move there because that was not who he was when he was a state senator, but he has slowly moved there.

“You couldn’t pay a lobbyist to do better work for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad than what Chris Van Hollen has been doing,” he added.

Zirkin published an op-ed in the Baltimore Banner last month saying that Van Hollens words and actions are painful to a Jewish community reeling from mass murder and torture and a tremendous comfort to terrorists around the world.

“Its shameful that this is the person who represents Maryland,” Zirkin told JI while discussing the op-ed. “Maryland prides itself on being a middle-temperament state and Chris is incapable of that at this point in time.”

Raskin, the state’s only Jewish member of its House delegation, has also been a source of frustration for the state’s Jewish community in recent months. His vote against funding for Israel aid placed him in the minority of his party. His “no” vote came as a surprise given his generally pro-Israel voting record in Congress prior to Oct. 7. But in the seven months since, he has emerged as one of the leading critics of Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Despite his progressive bona fides, Raskin was heckled by anti-Israel demonstrators for being “complicit in genocide” during a March speech at the University of Maryland — a move that preceded his vote against aid to Israel one month later.

A source familiar with the matter tells JI that the angry messages and sudden disapproval of progressive voters had weighed on Raskin.

Backlash to his vote against aid to Israel was swift and harsh, with Jewish groups who had been aligned with Raskin for years distancing themselves from one of most prominent Jewish progressives in Congress. The JCRC and Washington Jewish Week were among those who issued rare condemnations of the Maryland congressman.

Halber said in a statement at the time of the vote that it was his organization’s hope that Raskin’s “opposition to this legislation represents a misguided exception to what has been his general rule of being a great friend to Israel and strong supporter of the American Jewish community.”

Facing criticism within the Jewish community over that decision, Raskin later voted for the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act despite promoting his own competing legislation in the Countering Antisemitism Act — even as he criticized the bill as ineffective and urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to instead take up his legislation, saying the AAA would “just immerse us in more rhetorical conflict and confusion over another superficial and symbolic measure.”

Speaking to CNN in late March about the vitriol he was facing, Raskin said, “This whole period for me has been about blowback.”


“As a suburban Jewish Marylander, I can say, no theres not that concern [among this population of voters], said Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, pushing back on the notion that Jewish Democrats in Maryland would consider supporting Hogan or other Republicans over Van Hollen’s rhetoric and Raskin’s vote. Its important to keep in mind that Jewish voters are voting on a wide range of issues. Were not one-issue voters.”



Maryland’s unusually competitive Senate race is shaping up to be a test of how much ground Democrats have lost with the state’s Jewish voters as a result of the newfound antagonism. Hogan has leaned into his support for Israel on the campaign trail, accusing Van Hollen of abandoning the Maryland Jewish community and vowing to follow Cardin’s pro-Israel legacy.

The vacancy, Hogan’s name recognition and high approval ratings in the state have made the race competitive, despite Maryland’s substantial Democratic edge.

Howard Libit, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, told Jewish Insider last month that it is “hard to predict” how big of a role Jewish issues would play for Maryland voters in the race for Cardin’s seat, saying much would depend on “where the conflict is going to be by November.”

Libit said that he believed Jewish concerns “clearly would be” a factor in the race, “particularly with some Democratic voters … if the election were today.”

Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, pushed back on the notion that Jewish Democrats in Maryland would consider supporting Hogan or other Republicans over Van Hollen’s rhetoric and Raskin’s vote.

“As a suburban Jewish Marylander, I can say, no theres not that concern [among this population of voters]. Its important to keep in mind that Jewish voters are voting on a wide range of issues. Were not one-issue voters,” Soifer said, pointing to abortion access and defense of democracy as a top issue for Jewish voters.

“Im confident that Jews whether they be in Maryland or nationally, will continue to support Democrats.”