As the Ledger went to press on Tuesday, we were given a first look — a disappointing one – at the Democrat’s platform as it pertains to Israel.
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post wrote that the Democratic platform   “… is the most radically unsupportive statement of policy on Israel by any major party since the founding of the state of Israel. It is indeed Obama’s Democratic Party.”
While most observers will say that the platforms for both major parties are meaningless commentary, merely posturing, the only way to really look at them is by comparing them to their previous iterations to see what has changed. On Israel, the Democratic platform is revealing and unfortunately the changes are negative.
On Jerusalem: According to Washington Free Beacon, “ The new platform has been brought into line with the Obama administration’s policy of not recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and supporting its division.  Jerusalem is unmentioned in the 2012 document, whereas in 2008 and 2004 …(it) declared  ‘Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel…It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.’”
Hamas, which was effectively quarantined in the 2008 version of the platform, doesn’t receive any attention. Here’s the 2008 formulation: “The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist and abides by past agreements.” In 2012, there’s nothing like this.
There is also no language that was in previous platforms about Palestinian refugees being designated to a new Palestinian state and not Israel. Small adjustment, major significance.
That we didn’t look at the Republican platform in the same way attests to the lack of change in their strong support for the Jewish state’s safety, security and continued existence. The divergence between the two Parties over the years had been increasing and now has grown much wider.
—nrg