A mini-brouhaha has erupted over whether or not the Democratic National Committee has buried an “autopsy” report on the party’s loss in the 2024 presidential election. Some fear that the report isn’t being released because it suggests the defeat was the Harris campaign’s failure to break with the Biden administration’s disastrous policy supporting Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza. They are charging the DNC with a cover-up and demanding that it be released.

I’ve been on the DNC for more than three decades and am no stranger to how the party handles, or avoids handling, issues involving Palestine/Israel. I served 16 years on the party’s Executive Committee and 11 as co-chair of its Resolutions Committee. On eight occasions, I presented testimony arguing that the party needed to acknowledge Palestinian rights, and in 2016, I was appointed to serve on the Convention Platform Drafting Committee. Having argued and lost many times, I am well aware of the party establishment’s fear of addressing Palestinian rights. The tide, however, is turning. This past year, I was appointed to serve on the party’s Working Group to sort out how our party deals with America’s policies in the Middle East.

And yet, I believe that for those of us who support Palestinian rights and are concerned that leading Democrats have been on the wrong side of this issue for too long, the fight over the “autopsy” isn’t where we need to be focusing our energy. We already have all the evidence we need to write our own report demonstrating conclusively that voters, especially Democrats and independents, are fed up with blind support for Israeli policies.

A recent Gallup poll shows that for the first time, more Americans sympathise with Palestinians (41%) than with Israelis (35%). This is especially pronounced among Democrats, where sympathy for Palestinians is three times greater than it is for Israelis. And a John Zogby Strategies poll from February shows Americans now view the US relationship with Israel as more of a liability (45%) than an asset (34%). Among Democrats, the margin is three to one (57% to 19%).

This growing antipathy towards Israel translates into shifting attitudes towards policy. In August 2025, The Economist found that 43% of voters favour decreasing military aid to Israel, with only 13% wanting to see an increase in such aid. Among Democrats, the decrease/increase ratio is 58% to 4%. Among Independents, it’s almost the same.

Other polls show voters saying that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and are less likely to vote for those who defend Israeli policies.

Providing further evidence of this shift, with just months before the midterm elections, it’s striking to note that dozens of congressional candidates have already declared their intent to reject contributions from pro-Israel groups. This includes a number of sitting members of Congress, who’ve previously received millions of dollars from pro-Israel sources.

While these changes in attitudes towards Israel have been brewing for several years now, they were dramatically accelerated by Israel’s more than two-year assault on Palestinians in Gaza.

This was clearly in evidence in the 2024 presidential contest. Post-election polling also showed that Vice President Kamala Harris lost the backing of a wide range of Democratic and Independent voters because she refused to break with President Biden’s support for Israel.

As we get closer to the 2026 midterm elections, we can expect more candidates to publicly distance themselves from Israeli policies. We can also expect that pro-Israel groups will panic and up the ante by pouring tens of millions into defeating candidates who are critical of Israel. This will backfire because what will be controversial are Israeli policies and pro-Israel campaign contributions, not the opposite. The sooner the analysts, consultants, and media figure that out, the better our politics will be.

Given this background, fighting for the party to release an autopsy is less important. Attention ought to be directed at supporting candidates who reject Israeli policies and calling on the Democratic Party to ban dark money in elections. This is an instance where looking forward, not backwards, will help to bring the change we need—and to be where Democratic voters are already.

Dr. James J. ZogbyThe writer is the President of Arab American Institute.

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