David Greenfield, a former City Councilman and the CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, was not happy that pro-Palestinian protesters were at an event he attended at the SOMOS political conference in Puerto Rico earlier this month.

"We didn't have an Israeli flag. We didn't say the word Israel. We got protested for having a Shabbat Friday night oneg between the Jewish and Latino communities," Greenfield said. "That's not OK. That's not acceptable and that's crossing the line."

It's an atmosphere he called abusive and vitriolic.

What You Need To Know

  • A temporary ceasefire expected between Israel and Hamas would lead to hostages being released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners
  • An Israeli official says the swap won't take place before Friday
  • Hamas took roughly 240 people as hostages during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel

But now, after weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, an expected temporary reprieve is in sight that would allow for the release of 50 women and children held hostage and 150 Palestinian prisoners.

"I think it's gonna give both sides an opportunity to declare partial victory," Greenfield said.

And perhaps it could temporarily cool tensions, according to Greenfield.

"I think temporarily, it will release a little bit of the acidic moment that we've had," Greenfield said. "But realistically, if we're going to be honest about it, there's a new normal and there are new fault lines and those fault lines are going to continue."

Waleed Shahid, a progressive Democratic strategist, has been organizing support for a permanent ceasefire.

He said the protests and political pressure on pro-Israel Democrats will continue with the resumption of Israel's campaign in Gaza.

"I think things like that will continue to divide the party even further and you'll continue to see protest and at the same time, we have seen that diplomatic negotiations between partners across the world are the only ways to get hostages and prisoners reunited with their families," Shahid said.

Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic consultant, said leftist political organizations that pushed for a ceasefire won the argument for the time being.

"The question is, what happens next? Some hostages are being returned but in the pro-Israel community, people will say, ‘Wait a second. Where is everybody else?’ And until they find out where everybody else is, this will continue as real tension," Sheinkopf said. "Is there a resolution? Not likely."