Group of NC Democrats celebrates defeat of resolution tying Israel to genocide
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The resolution accused Israel of genocide; it failed to become party policy.
- The resolution failed by a 162-137 margin with about 85 registered members not voting.
- The Jewish Caucus said the defeat lets the party focus on supporting candidates.
The North Carolina Democratic Party’s top committee voted against a resolution that accuses Israel of genocide on Saturday, failing to establish it as a part of the party’s platform.
The resolution called for the prosecution in the United States of individuals and entities that committed or enabled genocide regardless or where it occurred or the individual’s citizenship status. It also insisted that those suspected of enabling genocide be vetted before entering any U.S. territory.
The party’s Jewish Caucus celebrated the resolution’s failure on social media, calling the resolution “divisive.” According to the caucus, this allows the party to now “focus on supporting our incredible candidates as they fight to make life better for North Carolinians.”
Members of the party’s State Executive Committee “listened and heard us and ... we’re all able to regroup now and focus on electing Democrats,” said Amy DeLoach, the first vice president of the party’s Jewish Caucus.
Tariq Shehadeh, the author of the resolution, said that he remains “very optimistic” that the resolution could pass at a future meeting.
The resolution failed with a vote of 162-137. However, about 85 members did not cast a vote, though they were registered as voting members of the party’s state executive committee. Shehadeh said the resolution failing by a margin of 25 is a good sign for a potential flip in the future.
“For a resolution that we did not put in as much effort into passing as we should have ... I am very proud of the turnout that we got,” he said.
The U.N. Human Rights Council declared in September 2025 that Israel committed genocide in its actions as part of its war against Hamas in Gaza.
For Shehadeh, the party establishing a stance on the issue will be key to turning out groups of voters that haven’t been voting.
“We need to give something for young people, for Arab Americans, for Muslim Americans to vote for rather than only voting against the Republicans,” Shehadeh said.
DeLoach said that she wouldn’t be surprised if the resolution was reintroduced. If it does, the caucus will keep fighting it, she said.
Pressure over how to vote?
Paul McAllister, one of the top leaders in the state party as chair of its Interfaith Caucus, said that the voting session was “extremely uneventful” and that members voted on the resolution with little debate. McAllister said because this resolution has brought on contention in the past, people may not have wanted to engage in a combative debate. He also said that people likely did not want to sit on the virtual call in which they held the voting session any longer than they needed to on a Saturday.
He said that he suspects some didn’t vote because they haven’t developed a clear stance on the issue or because they feared reprisal from those who voted against the resolution.
McAllister alleges that “certain parts of the Jewish community,” including members of the Jewish Caucus, have made “harassing phone calls” to Democrats in the past who have voted against the wishes of the caucus for resolutions regarding Israel.
DeLoach denies the allegation and said that she can promise this hasn’t happened at least in the last several years. If it had happened, she said, she would condemn it.
“I know every single phone call that’s made by Jewish Caucus leadership ... and I can guarantee that nobody that is a member or a representative of the caucus is speaking that way,” DeLoach said.
DeLoach said that McAllister has made these allegations before, which she said lack evidence.
McAllister said that although the resolution failed, that doesn’t mean the state party has finished its discussions on the issue.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Group of NC Democrats celebrates defeat of resolution tying Israel to genocide."
