Trump's Gaza ceasefire exposes the Democrats' moral and political failure

US President Donald Trump is boasting of having brought peace to the Middle East, a claim that is wildly exaggerated. But he has, at least for the moment, brought an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Trump's willingness to use the tools of his office to pressure Israel into accepting his terms for a ceasefire - terms quite favourable to Israel but falling short of the ambitions of its far-right government - reflects poorly on his predecessor, Joe Biden, and his 2024 presidential challenger, Kamala Harris.

It also vindicates the anti-Trump critics within the Democratic Party who implored their leaders to take a forceful stand against Israel's genocide, warning they could lose the election if they refused.

Many doubt the current ceasefire will hold, and even more question Trump's plans for Gaza's future. It will require continued pressure from Washington just to prevent Israel from returning to the slaughter now that its living captives, and some of the bodies of the deceased, have been returned.

But it cannot be denied that Trump did what Biden could not or would not do: he brought the weight of the White House to bear on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and forced him to accept an end to the genocide.

It was not simply a matter of ordering Netanyahu to stop. Trump brought Arab and Muslim leaders together as partners and rallied near-universal international support for the first stage of his plan that included the exchange of hostages and an end to the genocide. Even Iran eventually gave partial support to the plan, albeit reluctantly. 

As always, when Washington asserts its role as the senior partner in the US-Israel alliance, Netanyahu is forced to obey.

Domestic consequences

Trump fancies himself a peacemaker, but few outside his loyal base see him in that light. 

Even those who might credit him for stopping the genocide in Gaza will judge him far more harshly for his deployment of the US military in American cities, his disdain for international legal standards, and his broad authoritarian bent.

Biden's failure to place any meaningful pressure on Israel to end the genocide, and Harris's unqualified support for that policy, proved decisive in her defeat to Trump last year

If Trump's action on Gaza has done little to endear him to centrist and liberal voters, it has nonetheless increased pressure on Democrats to finally align their position on Palestine with the views of their own base.

Biden's failure to place any meaningful pressure on Israel to end the genocide, and Harris's unqualified support for that policy, proved decisive in her defeat to Trump last year.

Harris apologists insisted that Trump would be even worse for Palestine than Biden had been. And for the first nine months of Trump's second term, one could make that case.

Although the vast majority of death and destruction in Gaza occurred early in Israel's onslaught, some measures it implemented after Trump assumed office - such as a full cutoff of aid to the Strip for two months - were escalations of existing policy that drastically deepened Palestinian suffering.

Still, this ceasefire, if it holds, marks the end of a two-year mass slaughter. It is the bare minimum the US could have done, and there is no reason, apart from his personal inclinations, that Biden could not have done the same.

Indeed, according to long-time Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin, a similar deal was proposed more than a year ago, and Biden refused even to consider it.

"Hamas agreed to the same terms in September 2024," Baskin wrote. "But at the time, the response of Israeli negotiators was that 'the Prime Minister does not agree to end the war.' Even though the proposed 'three-week deal' reached President Biden's office, his envoy Brett McGurk refused to mention the bad deal he was negotiating. I met with members of the US negotiating team in October 2024 and they were as frustrated as I was by their inability to persuade Biden and his advisers to seriously consider the deal."

Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of Israel's genocide in Gaza

This does not detract from the fact that Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza entrenches apartheid and Palestinian subjugation. But securing the immediate end of the mass killing is no small achievement - and one that the Democrats could have delivered.

Perhaps Biden's refusal to listen and act would have been mitigated had leading figures in his own party pressed him harder to change course. But Democrats' internal divisions and fear of alienating pro-Israel donors ensured that paralysis prevailed.

Have Democrats learned?

Harris seems to finally understand the gravity of her error.

In an interview on 12 October, Harris was asked whether she considered Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide, responding: "I will tell you that when you look at the number of children that have been killed, the number of innocent civilians that have been killed, the refusal to give aid and support, we should all step back and ask this question and be honest about it, yeah."

That stops well short of an honest answer - or an admission that she took Gaza far too lightly as vice president and Democratic nominee for president. Yet it reflects a growing recognition among party leaders that they will have to change their stance on Israel and Palestine dramatically if they hope to succeed in future elections.

A 3 October Pew Research poll found that 33 percent of Americans believe the US gives Israel too much aid, while 23 percent think the amount is right, and only 8 percent say it is not enough. The poll also reported that just 18 percent of Democrats hold a favourable view of the Israeli government.

It is clear that both Democratic primary voters and the wider American electorate expect Democrats to strike a very different tone on Israel in the years ahead. Trump's success in stopping the genocide, if it holds, will only reinforce that reality.

Supporters of Palestinian rights did not, on the whole, vote for Trump in 2024. But those who voted on the basis of Palestine also withheld their votes from Harris. That it took her nearly a year to even hint at recognising the cost of her position reflects how deeply entrenched such myopic support for Israel remains within the Democratic establishment.

The party's growing generational divide has also become impossible to ignore. Younger voters, particularly progressives of colour, are far more likely to view Israel's actions in Gaza as unjustified and US support as excessive.

Only around a quarter of Americans under 30 hold a favourable view of the Israeli government, compared with far higher shares among older voters. This sentiment, once confined to the activist margins, is rapidly becoming mainstream within the Democratic base.

The road ahead

There is a clear avenue opening for Democrats on this issue.

Even if the ceasefire holds - and that is a very big if given Israeli bombing of Gaza in recent days - the coming weeks and months will undoubtedly expose how short-sighted and ill-conceived Trump's plan for Gaza is. Crafted without any Palestinian input, it reflects neither respect for Palestinian rights nor any genuine path towards self-determination.

But Democrats will not be able to capitalise on those failings unless they finally decide to support Palestinian rights - and even that reversal will be ineffective until they hold themselves accountable for refusing to take the concrete steps that Trump did to end the genocide. 

Supporters of Palestinian rights harbour no illusions about Trump or the Republicans' willingness to respect those rights.

They are waiting eagerly for Democrats to take the lead on making justice for Palestine a priority of any future Mideast policy.

Trump has highlighted the Democrats' moral and political failure on Palestine. Now it is up to them to respond.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.