On the last day of the 2025 Democratic Party of Wisconsin Convention, the party membership was engaging in its ordinary platform and resolutions session. As it continued, we saw an unfortunately evermore common event unfold: a resolution was introduced with inflammatory language about Israel, implying horrible and despicable things about an entire people. It had been introduced at the very last minute, the day before.
The Jewish Caucus did what we could procedurally to stop this resolution. Our caucus members and chairs offered amendments to remove the violent and discriminatory language, we called for the results to be physically counted with each vote, we asked for points of order to slow the process down and ensure the rules were followed, and we even tried to suspend the rules of the convention to add more time to the resolution’s debate for our voices to be heard. Ultimately, this resolution was not able to be stopped, and sadly it was passed by a large margin.
As the incoming chairs of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Jewish Caucus we vehemently condemn the language used in the resolutions that have passed in the last two conventions. Now, we must turn forward and prepare for what comes next.
Resolutions like this are why we ran for the Jewish Caucus’ leadership and were elected just a mere two hours before this resolution was brought to the floor of the convention.
We wish this could have been different. Imagine a world in which all the caucuses, including the Muslim and Jewish caucuses, were able to come together and offer a thoughtful and well written resolution calling collectively for the need to end a violent war, the return of our hostages, and establishing a path forward for lasting peace for both Palestinians and Israel.
Resolutions like the one passed in the last two conventions, singling out the only Jewish state rather than its government, and therefore Jews themselves, with language echoing the blood libels of old, serve only to proliferate the vitriol and nightmare scenarios that we are seeing on our college campuses, outside of Jewish events and spaces, and in our political spheres. They are designed to divide us, spark rage, and pit us against one another. The resolution that passed at this year’s convention further led to these divisions.
This is our message for our fellow Jewish Democrats: We are ready to make change
Despite these resolutions, the Democratic Party has been, continues to be, and with a lot of hard work ahead of us, will remain a strong home for American Jews both here and abroad.
We refuse to accept that this resolution is further proof that the Democratic Party has gone down the road of antisemitism. We refuse to accept that this is truly representative of the Democratic Party as whole. Rather, it is a call to action. We have work to do.
We have a responsibility to grow this caucus, increase participation, prepare our membership for how to come to convention and participate in its activities, and, above all, to advocate for the Jewish voice.
We have a duty to train our community on messaging, dealing with threats, and how to become more involved.
We have an obligation to bridge communities and caucuses together, whether it is the Black, Muslim, Progressive or any of the various Caucuses, and present solutions together.
We must work together with our local and national organizations that think similarly and combine efforts and make meaningful and actionable opportunities for our combined growth.
This is the work that is ahead. What is behind? We know those answers. The resolutions that make us feel distrust, fear, and anger lay behind us.
Now is not the time to abandon the Democratic Party and our affiliated institutions as our home; it’s the time to fix them. We must have hard conversations with other party leaders, work for institutional change that means it’s harder to introduce last-minute resolutions that divide us, and make our voices heard.
Most importantly, we have to show up.
That means showing up to our county party meetings, being a buddy and tag along with our young Jewish students who are attending High School Democrats, Young Democrats, and College Democrats meetings, coming to the Democratic Party Wisconsin State Convention in June 2026, and working with great candidates up and down the ballot to elect strong partners in our communities.
As the newly elected co-chairs of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Jewish Caucus we vow to do the hard work, engage in good trouble, and fight for our community. We make the promise that we will bring people together and not divide. We pledge to grow our membership and our participation.
We pledge to keep the Democratic Party a safe and inclusive home for you, our Jewish community.
When nobody else rises to fight for us, we must fight for ourselves. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin Jewish Caucus is here to rise to that challenge.
The opinions expressed in this article are held by its authors and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Chronicle or its publisher. The Chronicle seeks to present a variety of opinions.
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Writers Ann Jacobs and Dustin J. Klein are the newly elected chairs of the Jewish Caucus of Democratic Party of Wisconsin. The opinions expressed in this article are held by its authors and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Chronicle or its publisher.
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