Opinion | Zvika Klein: At the Jewish Federations' gathering, American Jews worry about where the Democratic Party is heading

In his Editor's Notes column for The Jerusalem Post, Zvika Klein writes from the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly in Washington this week, where worry about the Democratic Party dominated the hallways.

Klein says he asked a prominent American Jew whether Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro could speak at the gathering if he wanted to run for president. The answer: "Probably not." Klein calls it sad that "even showing up could be considered a political liability," and notes that Joe Biden addressed the same gathering as a sitting vice president in 2014.

He quotes Eric Fingerhut, the federation's president and CEO, on Michigan's incoming senator, Abdul El-Sayed: "I don't think you can measure on a Richter scale in this room the concern about the El-Sayed election in Michigan."

Klein says David Axelrod argued that fears of a Democratic Socialists of America takeover are overblown, but warns that the bigger issue is Democrats "who start adjusting their positions because they think they need its support."

He urges pro-Israel Jews to study the Democrats who keep winning these fights inside the party, pointing to Missouri Rep. Wesley Bell, who again beat Cori Bush, and to the Black-Jewish coalitions that backed him.