Some Maryland Democrats worry about antisemitism in their own party

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Israel has become a divisive topic not just between Republicans and Democrats but also within the Democratic Party.

And it’s happening close to home.

One local Montgomery County representative is calling out Senator Chris Van Hollen, characterizing some recent comments as antisemitic.

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“I think this should be a clarion call to all Democrats to say no, no, we are not going to join you in splitting our Democratic Party the way you want to for your personal gain,” said Ben Kramer, who has represented District 19 since 2019.

Kramer is a lifelong Democrat, but he feels alienated by a growing segment of the party that has taken a hard line against Israel and, he believes, the Jewish people.

“I guarantee you that the rest of the nation is more centrist, and I fault the Chris Van Hollens and Bernie Sanders for splintering our party the way they are,” Kramer said.

Kramer wrote a scathing editorial published in the Baltimore Sun last weekend in response to Van Hollen’s op-ed in the New York Times in May.

Van Hollen’s piece was entitled “The Hard Truth My Party Needs to Face.” In it, he believes the Republicans and his own party have failed on policy in the Middle East.

He said, “It’s past time we use that leverage to end the occupation and achieve a two-state solution with full political and legal rights for all. That means withdrawing taxpayer support from Israel and conditioning arms sales.”

Kramer, a former colleague of Van Hollen’s, suggests he “offers a deeply skewed and morally imbalanced portrayal of Israel.”

Kramer points out that while Van Hollen is quick to condemn what the Senator calls the ‘brutality’ of the Israeli government, accusing it of ethnic cleansing, he barely mentions October 7, never acknowledging the terrorist spree of rape, murder and kidnappings committed that day

“It’s the way he advocates against providing support for Israel, and that somehow Israel is evil without looking at… how did Israel get here in the first place with its ongoing wars with its Arab neighbors who have been doing nothing but seeking the destruction of the state?” Kramer said.

Van Hollen told 7News he doesn’t believe speaking against the Israeli government makes him or anyone antisemitic.

“I believe the actions of the Netanyahu government warrant criticism and US policy should be based on our interests and not providing a blank check, rubber stamp to Netanyahu government,” he said. “I have repeatedly said that the Hamas attacks on Israel were heinous and Israel had every right and a duty to defend itself. What it did not have the right to do was go beyond targeting Hamas to imposing Netanyahu punishment on all the Palestinian people in Gaza?”

Former Maryland State Senator Bobby Zirkin now hosts a podcast called Across the Aisle and has also been critical of Van Hollen.

“He criticizes quite a bit the way Netanyahu is fighting wars, trying to defend his people, but I’m curious what Chris Van Hollen, in his infinite military wisdom, would do if he was faced as the head of Israel if he were faced with rockets coming from schools, from underground tunnels. Is Israel just supposed to take it?” he asked.

He and Representative Kramer are both worried about the direction of the Democratic Party, specifically when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people.

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“This is not a big tent. This is a tent and a fringe tent, and what do you do about that, and I think both parties have to answer that question,” Zirkin said.

Zirkin and Kramer both told 7News the state needs open primaries to give moderate and independent voters more of a say about who appears on the ballot in November.

The concern, they say, is having too many fringe voters participate in the primaries, leaving people to choose between extremes in the general election. That fills statehouses and Congress with people who are less inclined to work across the aisle to get things done and, in this specific case, potentially elect people who may look the other way at antisemitism.