There’s little question that April 1’s three Israeli Defense Forces’ airstrikes killing an American and six other aid workers in Gaza could be the last straw. Shall the U.S. continue to tolerate how Israel’s right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducts his military response to October’s terrible terror attacks killing 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage?

And shall President Biden still defer to him?

A previous “straw” seems relevant, as a sizable percentage of primary voters are protesting.

Beyond metro Peoria’s demonstrations, City Council debates and several stories in this newspaper, another breaking point was in last month’s primary election.

Although Illinois has no line for “none of the above,” “uncommitted,” etc., and election authorities don’t routinely report blank or write-in ballots, election tallies include total ballots cast, “undervotes” showing who didn’t vote when they could have, and votes for all candidates. There were significant gaps between Democratic ballots and Biden votes.

Undertones

Out of 7,569 Democratic voters for the party’s presidential nominee, 366 didn’t vote (4.6%) for a presidential candidate. That dwarfs the undervote in both 2020 (1.2%) and 2016 (1%). Further, adding votes for candidates such as Dean Phillips, “other” and undervotes together totaled 775 (10.2%).

(That said, the Republican side showed 26.2% voting for another GOP candidate or no one.)

Biden still won 94.6% of Peoria County Democratic votes cast (compared to Donald Trump receiving just 75.6% of Republican voters). But Peoria Democratic voters sent a message of disappointment, if not anger, to Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Central Illinois activist Sonny Garcia worked on the campaign organized by groups such as the Muslim Civic Coalition-Activate, Listen to Michigan, and other organizations, and he sees the message voiced elsewhere.

“In Illinois there were over 100,000 ballots cast as protest votes against the Biden administration,” he told The Community Word. “Since this campaign started, voters from all across the country have cast a protest vote during the primaries.”

Indeed, uncommitted votes were in Colorado (9%), Connecticut (11%), Hawaii (29.1%), Michigan (13%), Minnesota (19%), North Carolina (12%), Rhode Island (16%), and Wisconsin (8%).

Tragedies of war

Thirteen days after Peoria voters weighed in, the IDF attacked three World Central Kitchen vehicles engaged in humanitarian assistance to people on the verge of starvation due to IDF assaults and a virtual lockdown of borders, both hurting far more civilians than Hamas fighters, leaving 33,000 dead.

Was killing the aid workers “a bridge too far”?

Biden said he was “outraged” by IDF’s attacks. However, on the same day, he approved the sale of thousands of bombs to Israel and worked on language for Congress to consider an $18 billion sale of up to 50 F-15 fighter jets to Israel.

The rage and regret at Biden’s virtually unqualified support for Netanyahu’s war has been building for months. Muslim Americans, progressives, young voters, Democrats and more than a few Jews (in the United States and the world) have objected, demonstrated and organized to pressure Biden.

Fallout

Support for Israel has dropped, according to Gallup. In November, 50% of Americans across party lines, race, gender, geography, etc. approved of Netanyahu’s siege; now it’s 36%. By March, disapproval across the board was 55%, a jump from November’s 45%. In November, 36% of Democrats backed Israel’s war and 63% opposed it. In March, 18% of Dems still supported Israel and 75% opposed it.

The World Central Kitchen tragedy could be the final insult.

“The Biden administration is feeling the heat and has started altering their talking points and calling for ceasefire in Gaza, yet they are still sending funds to the Israeli military to continue,” Garcia continued. “This national movement will continue to work with other states that are having primaries between now and June to make sure that the DNC and the Biden administration are aware that our votes will not be taken for granted and that we will not support the administration that is funding genocide.”

Something must happen in the White House and the Biden campaign — and, for God’s sake, the 590,000 people in Gaza.

Two questions: Is it really the end of the line for unquestioning support for Netanyahu?

And what will critics of Biden’s position do at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August? Or in November?