Mark Mellman, an American pollster and political consultant who founded the Democratic Majority for Israel group and was a close adviser to now-Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, died this week at age 70.
He first worked on a winning US congressional campaign in 1981, and shortly thereafter founded his consulting firm, the Mellman Group, going on to lead more than 30 senators’ campaigns, according to Jewish Insider, including that of former senate majority leader Harry Reid. He also worked on John Kerry’s unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign against George W. Bush.
Mellman also helped international clients, lending his services to former South African president Jacob Zuma and former Colombian president César Gaviria, among others.
In the early 2010s, Mellman began advising Israeli journalist Yair Lapid as he entered politics and later went on to briefly lead the country. In 2021, Mellman told The Times of Israel, “We even thought of the party name ‘Yesh Atid’ (There is a Future). That’s how far back I go.”
Lapid eulogized the pollster on X Friday as “one of the architects of the 2013 election success and of the campaign that led to us forming the government in 2021.”
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“Mark embodied a love of the strong, successful, democratic Israel we believe in and worked tirelessly to secure the strategic relationship between Israel and the United States. His contribution to the Jewish people is far greater than most people will ever know,” the former prime minister wrote.
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid (L) and political strategist Mark Mellman in the Knesset before the swearing in of Israel’s 36th government, June 13, 2021. (Yesh Atid)
Though generally a supporter of the Democratic Party, Mellman broke with US president Barack Obama over the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, supporting an unsuccessful campaign by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to thwart the agreement.
Mellman co-founded the Democratic Majority for Israel group in 2019, which he led until 2025. The US group, which supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, aimed to counter a surge in anti-Israel opinions within the Democratic Party.
The group mourned its late founder on Friday as “not only a deep policy mind but a passionate advocate for American democracy, its institutions, the rule of law, as well as for the security and prosperity of Israel.”
DFMI, unlike AIPAC, makes direct donations to political campaigns. It was a major donor to, among others, the candidates who unseated congresspeople Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman in 2024, two progressive Democrats who accused Israel of committing genocide in its war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
While working against a growing far-left faction in the party, DMFI supported nominee Kamala Harris against Donald Trump in 2024.
It denounced Trump’s early-2025 proposal to “take over” the Gaza Strip and expel its residents, with Mellman calling the idea “cruel, immoral and impractical.” The group welcomed the October 2025 ceasefire-hostage deal, which was also brokered by Trump’s administration.
Matt Brooks, CEO of the Jewish Republican Coalition, eulogized his across-the-aisle friend on Friday, saying he “always had tremendous respect” for Mellman. AIPAC saluted Mellman’s “vision and steadfast leadership [that] gave voice to millions of pro-Israel Democrats at a critical moment for America’s democratic ally.”
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee and a former Democratic congressman, wrote: “Mark was an outstanding pollster with a keen understanding of Democratic politics. But more than that, he was a knowledgeable and proud Jew and Zionist. Most of all, he was a kind and decent man the world will sorely miss. May his memory be a blessing.”
Mellman was a longtime member of the Kesher Israel synagogue, a Modern Orthodox community, in Washington. He is survived by his wife Mindy, three children and grandchildren.
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