On Tuesday night, all three of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidates prevailed in the state’s Democratic primary.
The victories of Brad Lander over two-term Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10, Darializa Avila Chevalier over five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat in NY-13, and Claire Valdez over Antonio Reynoso in NY-7 point to a progressive insurgency that could shape the upcoming midterms, but the evening also highlighted an emerging political reality: Israel has become a political liability for Democrats seeking office.
There’s a standard refrain from centrists whenever progressives prevail in a place like New York City. They say that New York doesn’t represent the rest of the country. Yes, you might be able to openly support leftist policies in a cosmopolitan metropolis, they say, but good luck winning with that kind of platform in other locations across the country.
In the case of Palestine, that argument falls apart immediately. Roughly 65% of Democratic voters sympathize with Palestinians more than Israelis. 80% of Democratic and left-leaning voters now have a negative view of Israel. You can find dozens upon dozens of polls consistent with these numbers, and they are not exclusive to New York City. The shift away from Israel is occurring nationwide.
Now the issue of Israel emerges in nearly every Democratic primary. In recent months, multiple candidates have been pressured to denounce past campaign contributions from Israel lobby groups, and those seeking office are rapidly shifting their public positions on military aid to the country.
Additionally, pro-Israel smear campaigns just don’t work anymore. Adam Hamawy won the primary in New Jersey’s 12th district despite accusations of terrorism, and Chris Rabb prevailed in Pennsylvania’s 3rd district amid the usual charges of antisemitism.
Chevalier faced similar criticism for attending a pro-Palestine rally the day after October 7. Lander, who has equivocated on a number of related issues and still refers to himself as a Zionist, endured the usual “self-hating Jew” attacks, but nothing stuck.
The Anti-Mamdani Machine never sleeps, and it was set to high in recent days, as the mayor was attacked as a Jew-Hater over recent criticisms he made about the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.
During a rally days before the election, Mamdani invoked Antonio Gramsci and told the crowd that “The monsters that we are up against, they take many different forms.” He then cited AIPAC, alluding to the “dark money” they spend on elections.
Pro-Israel pundits and organizations claimed it was antisemitic to refer to a group that supports genocide as “monsters” and that it was an anti-Jewish trope to refer to a political group’s secret spending as “dark money.”
“Swap ‘AIPAC’ for ‘Jews’ and it’s the oldest antisemitic conspiracy theory in the books,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), after the comments.
Yes, I guess Mamdani’s comments were offensive if you just pretend he said something completely different.
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt also predictably jumped into the fray.
“This is the kind of bigoted conspiracy mongering that you expect from unhinged streamers or white supremacists,” he said of Mamdani’s comments. “It’s not the language that we should expect from the mayor whose jurisdiction suffers from the highest levels of antisemitism of any city in America.”
Mamdani’s sweep was greeted with farcical hysteria from the pro-Israel faction, which now claims that the most Jewish city in America is akin to 1933 Germany.
“To my beautiful Jewish friends in America” tweeted Meghan McCain. “We love you. You are not alone. We are just as freaked out as you are and see with clear eyes exactly what is happening.”
“DSA settler-colonialists seem to be successfully imposing their alien rule upon the indigenous inhabitants of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx,” wrote Iraq War propagandist David Frum.
“Gotham has fallen,” declared Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who led Congress’s anti-Palestine campus witch hunt in 2023.
How many U.S. voters sincerely believe this kind of nonsense?
People see the global economy reeling, and they’re paying more and more money to fill their cars with gas. They don’t have to be astute political analysts to know that Israel decimated Gaza with help from the United States and helped persuade Trump to attack Iran, a war that the U.S. lost decisively. It’s very easy information to gather.
None of this is to say that the Israel lobby is reeling. AIPAC has already spent millions this election, and it’s set to spend a lot more, breaking its previous records. The same night as the New York elections, the AIPAC-backed Adrian Boafo won his primary in Maryland, setting him up to take over the seat of the retiring pro-Israel incumbent, Steny Hoyer.
However, it’s undeniable that support for Israel has become a potential liability for any politician seeking office, and a massive problem for any Democrat running on the issue.
The media frames this reality as a growing “divide” within the party, but the only divide is between Democratic lawmakers, the majority of whom still support Israel, and Democratic voters, the majority of whom do not support Israel.
One can expect this energy to help shape the upcoming midterms, with Israel emerging as a litmus test among voters.
Michael Arria
Michael Arria is Mondoweiss’ U.S. correspondents. He is the author of Medium Blue: The Politics of MSNBC. Follow him on x at @michaelarria.
