Prominent lawyer Alan Dershowitz announced his departure from the Democratic Party following what he called the “most anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist convention” he has ever attended.
The lawyer and Harvard Law professor emeritus made the announcement during an appearance on the Phone Interview with Zev Brenner podcast shortly after the Democratic National Convention, which took place in Chicago from August 19-22.
The Democratic Party is embroiled in internal conflict over the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7 when the Palestinian militant group launched an attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds more hostage in Gaza.
In response, Israel launched a military campaign that killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry.
Progressive activists have accused the Biden administration of failing to rein in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, with some even accusing it of being complicit in genocide. Meanwhile, prominent Jewish leaders have said the conflict has sparked a surge in anti-Semitism, including within progressive movements.
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In his interview with radio host Zev Brenner, Dershowitz said, “I’m not a Democrat anymore. I’m an independent.” He added, “A lot of things pushed me in that direction,” citing Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision not to chair Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress in July and rhetoric at the Democratic National Convention.
“I was disgusted by the Democratic National Convention. Absolutely disgusted,” he said.
Dershowitz continued: “There were more anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist people speaking out, starting with [Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]—a miserable anti-Zionist fanatic.
“Then, of course, they had [Senator Elizabeth] Warren, who is one of the most anti-Jewish people in the Senate. Then there was Bernie Sanders, one of the most anti-Jewish people in the Senate.
Sanders, who was born into a Jewish family, described himself as “proud to be Jewish” in a The New York Times interview published in 2020.
Newsweek contacted Dershowitz and a Democratic Party spokesperson for comment, via an online request form and by email, outside of normal business hours.
Dershowitz said he had not yet decided who to vote for in November. “I want to see how they handle the Iran situation,” he said, adding: “I want to encourage the current administration to support Israel.”
The lawyer also said that if Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro had not been Jewish, he likely would have been chosen as Harris’ running mate.
“I understand that if his name had been John Sheppard, not Josh Shapiro, he would have been the Democratic nominee,” he said.
Referring to Kamala Harris’s choice of Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate over Shapiro, Dershowitz added: “I don’t think Kamala Harris is anti-Semitic. I don’t think she didn’t choose Shapiro just because he was Jewish. [or] just because she doesn’t like Jews.
“I think she was under a lot of pressure. We know she was under a lot of pressure from the far left of the Democratic Party, and she knew that if she had nominated Josh Shapiro … there would have been protests.”
Dershowitz has a history of representing controversial clients. He served as appellate counsel to O.J. Simpson during his murder trial and was part of Harvey Weinstein’s defense team in 2018. In 2020, he also helped defend then-President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial.
