I am a traditional progressive liberal Democrat.

I am not using “progressive” in the hijacked sense promoted by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), where it too often becomes a requirement that one be anti-Israel.

I am a Proud Zionist.

There was once no conflict between being progressive and supporting Israel.

If you examine Israeli society and its government structure, you will find the values that traditional Democrats, and the DSA itself, say they want for America: universal healthcare, strong labor traditions, subsidized higher education, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, religious freedom, minority representation, a multiparty democracy, and an independent judiciary.

Israel provides free, compulsory public school beginning at age three. “Daycare” Solved.

But it is deeply ironic that the DSA projects a vision of progressive society onto America while treating Israel as a villain.

I have been active, including in leadership roles, in the Democratic Party for forty years. The goals the DSA presents as new ideas, such as universal healthcare, labor rights, public education, civil rights, environmental responsibility, and a fairer distribution of wealth, have been part of the Democratic Party’s agenda for decades. But the DSA goes further. Many of its members openly identify as communists, and that ideology does not belong in the Democratic Party.

Its most distinctive and aggressive political thrust increasingly appears to be anti-Israel and antisemitism.

It takes values that Democrats have championed for generations and then adds an obsession that treats Israel, not Hamas, not Iran, and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)