The leadership in the Democratic Party used to believe that it was important to at least be perceived as supportive of America’s closest and most strategically important Middle East ally. But aspiring Democratic presidential hopefuls have decided to abandon Israel, as proven by their refusal to speak at next week’s AIPAC Policy Conference.

The list of speakers at next week’s AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., includes not a single declared 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

AIPAC, a bipartisan pro-Israel organization that advocates for the strengthening of the U.S.-Israel bond, is the opposite of a fringe group. In fact, many in the pro-Israel community have become frustrated with its watered-down stances in order to accommodate Democrats’ increasing abandonment of the Jewish state. If anything, AIPAC has become what can be fairly labeled a center-left pro-Israel organization. AIPAC has continuously appeased liberals through its support of the two-state solution and continuing engagement with the Palestinian Authority.

Anti-Israel zealots in the Democratic Party have attempted, with now demonstrable success, to make support for Israel politically toxic. Popular Democratic members of Congress such as Islamist anti-Semite Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have slandered AIPAC, labeling the group a shadowy, nefarious actor that undermines the American political system.

Some Democratic hopefuls have already confirmed that they will not be speaking at next week’s conference, while others have abstained from commenting on their schedule.

Several of the same 2020 Democrats who refuse to attend the AIPAC policy conference unanimously agree that it is essential to re-engage in the Obama-brokered Iran nuclear deal. The deal gave Iran, which openly calls for Israel’s destruction, $150 billion in unfrozen assets and a pathway to nuclear weapons.

Even President Obama, who was very hostile to Israel, spoke at AIPAC, both as a presidential candidate in 2008 and later as president in 2012. At the time, Democrats calculated that it was important to at least be perceived as pro-Israel. During the course of the Obama presidency, top cabinet official spoke at every annual AIPAC conference and stressed their commitment to the US-Israel alliance.

It appears those days are over. The Democratic Party has become an anti-Israel party. And 2020 Democrats’ harmonious refusal to attend a middle-of-the-road, bipartisan pro-Israel conference cements that reality. Scorched-earth leftists are rapidly transforming the Democratic Party into the party of anti-Israel hate. AIPAC, due its unapologetic support for Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign state, has officially become politically toxic for 2020 Democrats.