HuffPost reports:

The Austin, Texas, chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America announced on Sunday that it was effectively withdrawing its endorsement of Democratic congressional candidate Greg Casar after he made clear that he supports U.S. aid for Israel’s “self-defense” and opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel.

“Austin DSA’s elected leadership finds that these statements are not reconcilable with DSA’s stance in solidarity with Palestine,” the group wrote.

The break with Casar, a longstanding DSA ally on the Austin City Council, marks another inflection point in DSA’s quest to chart an electoral strategy that is consistent with its Israel-Palestine policy stance.

But perhaps more importantly, the rupture spoke to the caution with which progressive candidates in competitive Democratic primaries are navigating the topic of U.S.-Israel policy amid growing pushback from traditional pro-Israel groups.

After years of expanding the boundaries of the U.S. political discourse to make room for solidarity with Palestinians, many progressives are now on the defensive, struggling to shore up existing gains and distancing themselves from their most radical allies.

Progressive foreign policy advocates downplayed progressive candidates’ compromises with pro-Israel groups, but acknowledged that they are facing powerful resistance from groups like Democratic Majority for Israel, a super PAC formed in 2019 to arrest the advance of left-leaning, pro-Palestinian views inside the Democratic Party.

And the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the most influential pro-Israel organization in Washington, announced in December that it was launching a super PAC ahead of the midterm elections in November. AIPAC, which, unlike DMFI, has relationships with both major parties, has traditionally let separate but affiliated groups spend directly in elections.

“The fact that Democratic Majority for Israel was even created is a response to progressives’ success in advancing this debate within the party,” said Matt Duss, a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who has counseled progressive candidates on U.S.-Israel policy. “The statement apocryphally attributed to Gandhi, ‘First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win?’ We are well into the ‘then they fight you’ stage.” [Continue reading…]