The Conquered Political Blind Spot of Bernie Sanders

Lost in all the shenanigans within United States politics is one of the most understated storylines emerging throughout these primaries as we approach a very important midterm.

The ongoing civil war between the Bernie Bro progressive wing and the centrists under the Obama umbrella has been brewing since the DNC kneecapping Bernie Sanders’ 2016 run, with it hitting an extra level with the New York City mayoral race between Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo. This isn’t the understated storyline, but it does present context as to what specifically and how much each side is willing to sacrifice to gain the upper hand for control of the Democratic Party’s platform and agenda moving forward.

In 2015, the Hillary Clinton campaign was secretly boosting Donald Trump’s rise in post Tea Party politics within the Republican Party because they felt like he was their best shot at winning the election ultimately. The sacrifice here was allowing for chaos to fester so they could take advantage of the fallout from the Republican primaries, the Clintons were willing to put the spotlight on a former friend who had spent years in the same New York City circles as them to then beat him on the main election. Of course that didn’t pay off, but it’s a showcase of some of the ugly politics the DNC likes engaging in, and what they are willing to maneuver for an easier race and an easier victory.

Side-Note: Hillary Clinton forgetting about the Electoral College remains arguably the biggest misstep in the modern history of North American politics.

In 2020, multiple politicians running for president dropped out almost simultaneously to help Joe Biden, the DNC favorite, defeat Bernie’s second run to the presidency. Even those running more progressive campaigns like Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, and even Elizabeth Warren, did not back Bernie when it was clear the primary was going to become a two-horse race. I know after Bernie Sanders won Nevada, the frantic phone calls started happening. I know Barack Obama got involved to make sure his longtime vice-president and good friend would have his opportunity to take on Trump.

I’m sure that each of those who dropped out would be promised roles within the White House as a reward for cooperation. But the DNC were willing to basically defy what the voters could have wanted in favor for one of their senior leaders who had wanted to be president for over 30 years. The 2020 election ended in a Biden win, but it was far far closer than it had any right to be, especially when your opponent was partially responsible for an entire global pandemic.

Fast-forward to today, with AIPAC dominating the election cycles throughout the country with the backing of Citizen’s United. The DNC should be more hesitant to take so many millions of dollars from corporate and upper class donors, but the money is speaking louder than the morals. Even with the bizarre optics of seeing dozens of millions of dollars that can be better spent trying to actually improve the country, the Democratic Party’s candidates have continued to chase the almighty dollar to have the added edge in politics and social standing.

It is still unacceptable to see Nancy Pelosi be worth over 80 million dollars and not really showcase a willingness to spend. At least the Obamas, worth over 70 million, produce documentaries and helped build a library in the south side of Chicago with the promise of improving the nearby neighborhoods.

But before you say anything, Trump has averaged over 300 million dollars in earnings each MONTH since taking office, so let’s please please please put that “they are both the same” thing to bed.

But let’s look at Bernie Sanders and take a look at what all his picks have in common: they are pro Medicare for All, pro dismantling of ICE, pro woman’s rights, in support for increasing the minimum wage and strengthening unions, and each want to overturn citizen’s united. Each of Bernie’s picks have a progressive mindset that believes in the United States’ ability to provide a good healthy life for everyone that lives within her borders. This progressive core doesn’t want money dismantling basic human rights like housing, education, and health.

But there’s something else.

All of Bernie Sanders’ choices for the primaries and midterms throughout 2026 are politically to the left of him in terms of Israel, from current foundation to political structure to even its future in the Middle East.

This should be considered a very unique circumstance and should spark many conversations about the subject but I just haven’t seen many mention it outside of Hasan Piker during a stream weeks ago. Sanders has a physical and spiritual connection to Israel, but post-2024 election (when he publicly announced that he is going to reconsider his strategy for how to retake the House/Senate) he has not let that cloud his judgement while determining who should run the United States moving forward.

Out of all the members in Congress, Bernie Sanders is easily the United States politician most-connected to Israel, most connected to the plight of the Jewish diaspora, and sadly most-impacted by the genocide that ultimately helped lead to the creation of Israel. Bernie Sanders lost family in the Holocaust, as Poland fell under Nazi rule and much of his family living there were killed. Bernie’s political awakening is traced to witnessing the horrors of war and genocide against the Jewish people, his family included. As a bonus, Bernie Sanders actually spent time in Israel where some of his political beliefs developed while doing volunteer work.

This runs deeper than anything superficial like money and ego; everything that revolves around the story of Israel involves culture, faith, religion, and a minority group of people who have borne the blunt of fascism and antisemitism for centuries upon centuries. You can pretty much tie the tropes and bad stereotypes about the Jewish diaspora to the death of Jesus Christ thousands of years ago. The conversation of Israel and Palestine gets murky because the birthplace of three major religions resides in the same space, and this space has undergone monumental changes through warfare, mass migrations, and religious and military conquest.

Bernie Sanders doesn’t talk much about himself while working in politics, but his two campaigns for the presidency were ripe with antisemitism coming from multiple directions, with even actual neo-Nazis infiltrating some of his rallies. On top of that, Bernie has also witnessed the devolution of Israel from a safe haven for the Jewish diaspora post-World War 2 to one of the most-disliked nations in the world because of the violence that the government continues to allow and even directly execute against the Palestinians, against the other countries, and even towards their own people.

Even with Bernie’s criticism of Zionism and Netanyahu’s government, the nation of Israel remains a blind spot of his, and yet it should be understandable why. The idea of a Jewish safe haven like Israel is a far far cry from what the nation currently operates as, but Bernie Sanders would likely tell you that he still enjoys the concept of a peaceful land that is free from the antisemitism and the unjustified persecution of a culture that has dealt with unspeakable horrors for a very long time. Even if Palestinians and Hamas have a justifiable reason for battling the Israeli army, Oct. 7th shook Bernie to his core. I will never pretend like I can understand the pain of someone whose mere existence has to be defended on a daily basis witnessing a type of attack not seen since the Holocaust, so when his responses to Israel’s bloodthirsty genocidal counter to Hamas was weaker than we wanted, a part of me understood the painful hesitations.

So then it has to be recognized as to who Bernie associates himself with as he pushes for the Democratic Party to not only take over the House and Senate to stop Trump’s agenda, but also move the party further to the left and closer towards the Democratic socialism that he believes the country would greatly benefit from.

Throughout this current election cycle, Zohran Mamdani, El-Sayed, Platner (no longer running), Cori Bush, and many others had/have the full endorsement of Bernie Sanders, have a page on his own website for donations, and are all collectively on the stance that not only should the United States stop funding Israel, but the mere existence of Israel as it stands should be questioned in the future. These Bernie-endorsed candidates are taking the conversation into places that Sanders would never start or engage in.

An even bigger revelation is how plenty within the movement is expanding the conversation about Israel and how the two-state solution may not even be feasible. The diversity of opinions and ideas among the progressives is largely because of the diverse demographics, as Bernie Sanders was standing tall with prominent Muslim voices running for office, despite the obvious discontent from conservatives and even liberals who are used to villainizing Muslims while elevating Israel.

Instead of battling the topic of Israel because of his personal connections, Bernie has allowed for the movement to grow, to expand, to become more popular and more financially powerful without much conflict. He has been given many opportunities to denounce and criticize the loudest voices, especially Hasan Piker, but Bernie doesn’t take the bait because he knows that he has to defend and fight for a core of politicians and influential progressive minds that will carry the mantle once he exits politics.

Of course, some of you might not see the impressiveness of such actions, but look at how many older politicians in United States politics did serious damage because they put ego in front of what is best for Americans. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, as influential as she was, refused to retire during Obama’s term, and this selfishness led to Roe vs. Wade being overturned, and helped allow Trump to pick at least three Supreme Court justices without resistance. We have many politicians on the conservative AND liberal side refuse to step down time after time, even when some end up with dementia or Alzheimer’s on their way to death while still holding office and getting paid on taxpayer dime. And don’t get me started on Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Jim Clyburn, Donald Trump, and especially Joe Biden.

Bernie Sanders has overcome his eternal blind spot in favor for the ongoing and growing progressive moment that has picked up plenty of steam since Operation Wall Street. Unlike the Schumers and Fettermans and Torres and Bidens in the political atmosphere, Bernie recognizes the uneven relationship between the U.S. and Israel and recognizes that even with his cultural connections to the young nation, he can no longer represent the mindset towards the Jewish state for the progressive movement moving forward. Netanyahu’s decades-long bloodlust and frustrating grip on Israeli politics has also made things extremely difficult for him.

Nothing ever built can survive on shaky foundations, and sadly Israel was built on colonization, warfare, and terrible ideas with heavy religious undertones. Bernie Sanders very likely still believes in ultimately a free and globally supported Jewish state, in an inclusive progressive Jewish safe haven from a world that has routinely blamed this minority group for most problems, especially when mass tragedy strikes. As a reminder, around 25-30% of the entire Jewish population was killed during World War 2, and to THIS DAY the population has yet to fully recover. As a second reminder, Israel is a country that has some of the highest standards of living, despite the violence happening around them and within the disputed borders. Bernie’s entire political platform was formulated from ideas that helped Israel actually become a rich, prosperous nation with strong health care, housing, and education.

The progressive movement has become larger than the man who helped shape it, and unlike most of the boomer class American politicians, he recognizes that the future is not nor should it really be his to determine. He knows that the best option for these midterms and beyond is to use his political leverage and popularity to elevate the future politicians that actually have the best ideas for the United States, despite their stances on the more sensitive subjects.

Folks like Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed ran spectacular campaigns, but they needed prominent Jewish voices to stand up for them and remind everyone that anti-Zionism and anti-AIPAC and anti-Israel does not mean antisemitism. Bernie Sanders stood tall, defended constantly, and kept the conversation focused on the needs of the American people, while also reminding everyone that Israel is indeed committing a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank, and beyond.

The Brooklyn-based Jewish politician with tragic ties to the Holocaust and World War 2 and ties to the early years of Israel knows he doesn’t have much time left. But instead of chasing Big Money, chasing easy paychecks, or defying entire generations of Americans who badly want to see major changes, Bernie has provided a political path for progressives, even if along said path includes dismantling a half-century relationship with the same country he is still spiritually and culturally connected with. For that, I feel like we must give him his credit. He doesn’t just speak of solidarity; he performs it on a daily basis, and it has helped the Democratic Socialists of America as well as young progressives notch upset after upset victory against the establishment. With this momentum, the midterms wouldn’t just be bad news for Trump and the Republicans, but it would spell bad news for the boring centrist Democrats who are fine with the status quo.  

Solidarity Forever, Bernie Sanders.