Alan Dershowitz Leaves Democratic Party, Citing ‘Anti-Zionist’ DNC

 

Attorney Alan Dershowitz says he is leaving the Democratic Party after being “disgusted” by the recent Democratic National Convention, which he described as “anti-Zionist.”

During a recent radio interview with Zev Brenner, Dershowitz criticized the convention for giving legitimacy to anti-Israel speakers and anti-Israel protesters outside the convention in Chicago last month. 

“It was the most anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist convention I’ve experienced,” he said. “I was disgusted at the Democratic National Convention. Absolutely disgusted.”

“I am no longer a Democrat. I am an Independent,” he said, though he wouldn’t say who he plans to vote for in the November matchup between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. He said he might not reveal who he plans to vote for until after November 1.

“I want to see how they deal with Iran. I want to encourage the current administration to support Israel,” he said.

Dershowitz, who previously faced criticism from his own party for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, explained that “a lot of things” contributed to his decision to leave the party over time, including Harris not attending when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before a joint session of Congress

Ahead of that address, more than 50 members of Congress said they would boycott or skip the address due to scheduling conflicts, including Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Senator Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of several members of Congress who chose to meet with Israeli citizens “whose families have suffered in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack and kidnappings,” rather than attend the address. Pelosi told Politico Netanyahu’s invitation to speak before Congress was “inappropriate.”

But it was the behavior of several public figures — Ocasio-Cortez, Warren, Sanders, and Rev. Al Sharpton — during the Democratic convention in Chicago last month that sealed the deal on his decision.

“They had more anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist people who were speaking, starting with [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] – a miserable, anti-Zionist bigot,” Dershowitz said. “Then of course they had [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren, who is one of the most anti-Jewish people in the Senate. Then they had Bernie Sanders, one of the most anti-Jewish people in the Senate.

“By giving them platforms, what it says is that when AOC does call Israel a genocidal country and rails against it, she now has the imprimatur of the Democratic Party,” he said.

That, in combination with pro-Palestinian protesters outside the convention calling for the destruction of Israel, led him to believe “that’s not my party,” he said.