Pro-Israel Groups Blast DSA Co-Chair’s Comments Characterizing October 7 Attacks as ‘Inevitable’

Major pro-Israel advocacy groups have launched a forceful rebuke of Democratic Socialists of America co-chair Megan Romer following her remarks in a New Yorker interview in which she described the October 7 Hamas-led assault on Israel as fundamentally “inevitable.” The comments have ignited significant controversy within Jewish advocacy circles and political organizations nationwide.

During a conversation with New Yorker editor David Remnick, Romer was asked whether she would have participated in a pro-Hamas demonstration held in New York on October 8, 2023, one day after the attack that killed over 1,200 people and resulted in more than 200 hostages being taken. Romer indicated she would have attended, then offered her assessment that the violence was largely unavoidable given the circumstances in Gaza.

The Zionist Organization of America’s National President Morton A. Klein responded sharply, arguing that while the attacks may have been inevitable, they stemmed from vastly different causes than those cited by Romer. Klein pointed to Gaza’s election of Hamas, support from Qatar and Iran, and what he characterized as incitement through UNRWA educational materials as the true drivers of October 7.

The Anti-Defamation League issued a separate condemnation via social media, characterizing Romer’s statements as hateful rhetoric that endangered Jewish Americans. The ADL objected particularly to her willingness to attend the pro-Hamas rally and her characterization of the massacre as an “inevitable” uprising rather than acknowledging specific acts including rape, kidnapping, and torture.

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Executive Vice President for the Coalition for Jewish Values, labeled the DSA organization itself “objectively antisemitic,” asserting that Romer’s comments represented a distortion of reality intended to rationalize mass violence and ongoing suffering in Gaza.