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Progressive candidates in the city are facing questions about their positions on U.S. funding for defensive aid to Israel — and some are changing their minds.
Michael Blake, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres from the left, said at a debate hosted by One NYC Action on Tuesday that he opposed all military aid to Israel, including defensive funding.
“We need to absolutely stop the aid that is happening. We need to stop sending money,” Blake said. That marked a change from views that Blake expressed at an event in January, when he said that he would continue to support funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and considered it separate from other military aid, Jewish Insider reported.
Meanwhile, Brad Lander, the progressive challenger to Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, declined to comment on whether he supported Iron Dome funding to Jewish Insider this week. Lander told The New York Post last year, while running for mayor, that the United States should continue to fund the Iron Dome and other defensive systems.
The Iron Dome until recently drew broad bipartisan support, but even defensive aid for Israel has increasingly divided Democrats as Israel grows more unpopular with Americans. Goldman and Torres both continue to support the Iron Dome.
The question is becoming a litmus test for progressives, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez winning an endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America this week after pledging to vote against defensive aid. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is also a DSA member, backed her position.