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Student protests over the ongoing conflict in Gaza have become a thorny issue for President Joe Biden and many Democrats, drawing attention to his Administration’s stance on Israel and highlighting divisions within the party.
The protests, which have erupted on campuses like Columbia University and UCLA, present a delicate balancing act for Biden as he navigates the complexities of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East while seeking to maintain support from key voting blocs—including young progressives—ahead of his reelection bid in six months.
“We’re divided,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York progressive, tells TIME of the Democrats. “We have many members of the party who are pro-Israel without equivocation, and others who take a more balanced and nuanced approach.”
While the White House has affirmed its commitment to Israel’s security, it has also called for restraint and humanitarian assistance in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed. But Biden is yet to publicly endorse calls from progressive lawmakers to cut off U.S. support for Israel or express solidarity with the student protesters calling on his Administration to take a more forceful stance against its military operations in Gaza.
Read More: Why Colleges Don’t Know What to Do About Campus Protests
Some prominent progressive lawmakers have noticed. “I think he could say that this is a critically important moment, and people feel very strongly,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and chair of the progressive caucus, tells TIME. “They are protesting this war, and they’re protesting the United States’ involvement. And we have a long history of doing that in this country with students on campuses, and I think it would be great if [Biden] lifted up that history, while making sure that people understand that antisemitism is wrong.”
For Biden, there’s no easy political solution. On one side of the Democratic Party are those who advocate for a more assertive…
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