The conflict between Israel and Hamas is changing the California Senate race

According to Politico, the California Democratic primary race for former Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat has been disrupted by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

California Democratic representatives running to succeed Feinstein include Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, but Lee is the only candidate so far to support a cease-fire in Gaza amid Israel’s response to the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7. Angry pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a California Democratic Party convention on Saturday, forcing the party to cancel planned caucuses and underscoring deep divisions within the party.

“We need to make sure we stand up to genocide and colonization and that’s what I feel like we were doing,” said delegate and attorney Magali Kincaid, who was with the protesters. he said the Los Angeles Times.

The protests and disruptions angered some Jewish delegates, some of whom said state Democratic Party leader Rusty Hicks is not doing enough to protect members, according to the Times.

“Many were shaken by the disturbing and violent acts they saw,” Andrew Lachman, a Jewish delegate and president of Democrats for Israel California, told the Times.

“We can’t win Michigan or Virginia without Muslim votes. You can’t win Nevada or Pennsylvania without the Jewish community,” Lachman told the Times. “So anyone who thinks they can call the other person out of the room is hurting the Democratic Party.”

Hicks condemned the protesters Sunday, saying, “Any delegate who actively participated in or helped promote these activities and events … will be held accountable,” according to the Times.

Porter’s views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been described as more brutal than his opponent Lee’s. seconds to the politician

“There are lives lost in Gaza and there are lives lost in Israel,” Porter said said in October at a forum alongside Lee and Schiff. “And it’s because the United States has allowed terrorism to grow and refused to take a strong enough stance against Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Lee won a plurality of votes at the convention, just ahead of Schiff, but no candidate achieved the 60% needed to win the party’s official endorsement.

Schiff came out in support of Israel a day after Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7. seconds to a press release.

“I stand firmly with Israel in the face of this terrorist attack by Hamas and the declaration of war on the people of Israel,” Schiff said in the press release.

Top Democratic federal lawmakers released a November 16 statement that did not condemn the violent pro-Palestinian protesters who became aggressive with police outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters the night before. The conflict between Israel and Gaza has led to active conflict within the Democratic Party, leading some more moderate Democrats to to condemn leftmost positions.

“We fully support the right to protest loudly and vocally. But assaulting security and shutting down a democratic process, especially with chants that call for the destruction of Israel and appear to justify the Hamas attack, is completely unacceptable.” the California Jewish Legislative Caucus told Politico.

Lee, Porter and Schiff did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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