\n<\/p>\n
In the latest fight<\/span> to expose the yawning chasm between Democratic Party members and their leaders on Israel, the Democratic National Committee on Thursday shot down symbolic resolutions targeting AIPAC and arms transfers to Israel.<\/p>\n Members of a resolutions committee meeting in New Orleans rejected one symbolic resolution that would have condemned AIPAC\u2019s role in party primaries<\/a> and tabled a pair of resolutions that called for conditioning military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n Polls show that Democratic Party members are increasingly skeptical of Israel and supportive of Palestinians \u2014 a shift that hasn\u2019t been reflected in the party\u2019s official position.<\/p>\n Instead, party leaders rejected the AIPAC resolution and referred the hot-button issue of arms transfers to Israel to a task force created by DNC Chair Ken Martin, which has yet to produce concrete results since it was created in August<\/a>.<\/p>\n Allison Minnerly, the DNC member from Florida who sponsored the AIPAC resolution, said the votes exposed serious shortcomings on the part of leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cIt says that the Democratic Party just isn\u2019t willing to have a hard conversation, isn\u2019t willing to stand up, and just misses the mark when voters need it the most,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is an embarrassing display of cowardice.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The DNC member chairing the meeting, Ron Harris, said the arms transfers resolutions would be better handled by the task force, whose work he defended.<\/p>\n \u201cJust for the record, this isn\u2019t one of those things where you kick it down the line, and a committee where things go to die. These are people working really hard over a very thorny issue, and taking the time that it takes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The proposals before the DNC committee on Thursday once again put party leaders in the hot spot after an earlier resolution from Minnerly last August called for a ban on arms sales to Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Minnerly\u2019s latest resolution highlighted the millions of dollars AIPAC spent<\/a> to influence recent Democratic primaries in Illinois before reaffirming the party\u2019s commitment to \u201creducing the role of corporate money and large-scale outside spending in Democratic primaries and general elections.\u201d<\/p>\n AIPAC in recent years has dumped tens of millions of dollars into Democratic primaries<\/a> via a super PAC called the United Democracy Fund. It has taken an increasingly aggressive stance against anyone who questions U.S. support for Israel \u2014 including one pro-Israel congressional candidate<\/a> who said he was open to conditioning military aid on respect for human rights.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s heavy-handed role<\/a> in recent Illinois campaigns drew fire from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker<\/a> and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who blasted AIPAC when he won the Democratic Party primary<\/a> for the 9th Congressional District.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n