{"id":17486,"date":"2026-06-24T15:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17486"},"modified":"2026-06-24T15:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:01:38","slug":"new-york-sweep-by-israel-critics-shines-light-on-a-fraught-issue-for-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17486","title":{"rendered":"New York sweep by Israel critics shines light on a fraught issue for Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By BILL BARROW, STEVE PEOPLES and JAKE OFFENHARTZ<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 When Varun Venkatesh cast his ballot in New York\u2019s primary this week, he thought about \u201ca good litmus test for me as a voter.\u201d He wanted to know what the candidates are doing for the Palestinian cause.<\/p>\n

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The 27-year-old Brooklyn resident decided to support Claire Valdez, who was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, over Antonio Reynoso, another progressive who was the choice of the Democratic establishment, because she had \u201ca clear and more consistent stance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valdez triumphed in her congressional primary, as did two other insurgent candidates endorsed by Mamdani, and Israel was a key issue in each of the races. Now the question for Democrats is how many more voters like Venkatesh are out there as the party charts its path toward the November midterms and the next presidential election.<\/p>\n

The war in Gaza, which began during Joe Biden\u2019s presidency and undermined Kamala Harris\u2019 bid to replace him, remains an open wound, and how Democrats attempt to stitch it closed will help define their future. A step in any direction risks alienating pieces of the party\u2019s unwieldy coalition at a time when it\u2019s trying to unify around the mission of retaking control of Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israel question has become defining,\u201d said Matt Bennett, who leads the centrist Democratic group Third Way and frequently criticizes progressives as jeopardizing outreach to independent voters. He said some in Mamdani\u2019s camp have embraced \u201ca new level of extremism,\u201d warning that \u201cRepublicans are very good at weaponizing crazy ideas on the fringe against mainstream candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani has no such concerns as he tries to reshape the Democratic Party from the mayor\u2019s office of the country\u2019s largest city. He sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for defending what he calls \u201ca status quo of immorality\u201d in Gaza, and voters who celebrated his slate\u2019s victories on Tuesday night chanted \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor, meanwhile, argues that New York should shape Democrats\u2019 search for their national identity in the coming years.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen does the race for 2028 begin?\u201d Mamdani asked last week on a stage with his slate of candidates. \u201cIt starts now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel-Palestine conflict animates Democrats\u2019 left flank<\/h4>\n

Even for a party accustomed to searing debates between progressives and moderates, the schism over Israel has been blistering. Although the U.S. alliance with Israel once had bipartisan support, the ascendancy of Israel\u2019s right wing led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strained those ties over the years. Then the war in Gaza shredded them.<\/p>\n

Biden was denounced as \u201cGenocide Joe\u201d by pro-Palestinian supporters, who shifted their attention to Harris once she replaced him as the Democratic nominee for president two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was trying to the right thing,\u201d said Jamie Harrison, who led the Democratic National Committee at the time. \u201cIt was a hard and awkward place to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Harrison said the war in Gaza helped cost Harris the state of Michigan, which has a sizable Arab American population. However, he doubts that it was a defining national issue then or now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to be in New York. But I can tell you that most places, including where I am in South Carolina, it\u2019s not what people are talking about,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are concerned about affording gas and groceries and housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Harrison expects Democrats to look for middle ground in the future, which includes \u201cstill supporting Israel\u2019s sovereignty\u201d while calling for \u201creducing U.S. aid to Israel and changing the nature of the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

One primary victor blasted the \u2018hug Bibi\u2019 strategy<\/h4>\n

Finding middle ground has been difficult so far, as demonstrated by the primary in New York\u2019s 10th congressional district.<\/p>\n

Brad Lander, the former city comptroller backed by Mamdani, successfully challenged U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the race.<\/p>\n

Both candidates are Jewish, and both have criticized the Israeli government. But Lander says the war in Gaza is a genocide, and Goldman does not.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur party needs to admit that Joe Biden\u2019s \u2018hug Bibi\u2019 strategy was a catastrophic mistake,\u201d Lander said in his primary victory speech. He added, \u201cWe cannot keep paying for Netanyahu\u2019s wars with our tax dollars. Democratic voters are saying this, loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ari Rassouli, a voter in the district, said the incumbent\u2019s views on Israel were \u201cone of the many reasons that I didn\u2019t like Dan Goldman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing the war as a genocide, she said \u201ca candidate that is in support of that has no place in our democracy at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Lander acknowledged that Israel was among the top issues along with affordability and immigration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like talking to Jewish voters who feel anxiety about the times we live in and say, \u2018I have these values, I want to treat everyone like they\u2019re equal and with dignity and created in God\u2019s image. How do we navigate the times we\u2019re in?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added with a smile, \u201cThose are probably the longest conversations at the polls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Democratic congressional primary results in New York City are accelerating the party’s debate over the Israeli-Hamas conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNew York sweep by Israel critics shines light on a fraught issue for Democrats - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17486\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New York sweep by Israel critics shines light on a fraught issue for Democrats - 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