{"id":280781,"date":"2026-06-29T00:18:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T00:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280781\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T00:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T00:18:28","slug":"israel-divide-grows-in-democratic-party-after-new-york-primaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280781\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel divide grows in Democratic Party after New York primaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

The divide over Israel is only deepening in the Democratic Party after New York City\u2019s first democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, helped propel three primary candidates to victory <\/a>last week, unseating two incumbent Democrats in the process.<\/p>\n

The New York City primaries were unusually focused on Israel, with Mamdani-backed candidates making the issue a central line of attack as they blasted their opponents for being insufficiently critical of the war in Gaza or for taking money from AIPAC-aligned groups.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Party now finds itself more divided <\/a>than ever over its approach to Israel, raising questions about whether there\u2019s room in the party for such divergent positions and whether the results in some of the deepest blue districts in the country could hurt Democratic candidates in purple states heading into the midterm elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to Israel, it\u2019s absolutely evident that a small but very vocal sector of the Democratic electorate not only is very angry at Israel, but has made it their only issue,\u201d Matt Bennett, co-founder of center-left think tank Third Way, told The Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that this issue is roiling the party right now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In several primary races, Israel became a litmus test for Democrats, as insurgent campaigns sought to capitalize on progressive voters\u2019 frustration with the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

In New York\u2019s 10th Congressional District, former New York City comptroller Brad Lander made Israel a defining issue of his campaign, repeatedly calling on incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) to label Israel\u2019s military action in Gaza a \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Goldman, who has otherwise been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, refused to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I lose because of that, then so be it,\u201d Goldman told CNN\u2019s Laura Coates before the results came in. \u201cI\u2019ll wake up on Wednesday morning, and I will proudly look myself in the mirror and know that I stood with my values and my morals, and that I still have my integrity, and that\u2019s much more important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldman used his concession speech Tuesday night to address antisemitism and urge his party to remain united, telling his supporters, \u201cThe Democratic Party has always been at its strongest when it has welcomed a broad coalition of voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in New York City, Mamdani endorsed two other democratic socialist candidates with critical views of Israel.<\/p>\n

Community organizer Darializa Avila\u00a0Chevalier\u00a0successfully ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. New York Assembly member Claire Valdez, meanwhile, won an open primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez (D-N.Y.), who backed a different candidate in the race.<\/p>\n

Mamdani did not make endorsements in any other races, prompting questions about the reach of his political influence and what the results say about the direction of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who backed the incumbent candidates Mamdani helped unseat, sought to tamp down on concerns that the popularity of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates in New York reflects a broader shift within the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 215 members of the House,\u201d Jeffries said earlier this week. \u201cA handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other in a given state or two aren\u2019t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffries also acknowledged sharp disagreements with Mamdani over the endorsements,\u00a0saying<\/a>\u00a0the two New Yorkers \u201cstrongly disagree about some of his endorsements, and he\u2019s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he\u2019s going to have with members of Congress moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the results exposed a widening divide within the Democratic Party over Israel and the direction of the party.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) on Thursday\u00a0said he has<\/a>\u00a0\u201cprofound differences\u201d with Avila Chevalier, while Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)\u00a0called the candidates<\/a>\u00a0\u201coutrageous\u201d and referred to them as a \u201cpro-Hamas wing \u2026 just declaring a war on just regular Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville\u00a0went so far as to say<\/a>\u00a0Avila Chevalier should not be seated in the Democratic caucus because \u201cher views are totally against anything that any Democrat has.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other side, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)\u00a0praised Valdez<\/a>\u00a0for having \u201ca clear moral vision on foreign policy,\u201d saying the \u201cprogressive movement is on the ascendancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some say the results should serve as a wake-up call for Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it\u2019s becoming a bigger issue that the party needs to deal with more comprehensively than, like, \u2018If I don\u2019t talk about it, it doesn\u2019t happen,\u2019 because it\u2019s a corporate issue with all these PACs pouring in a lot of money. That\u2019s giving people a really bad taste in their mouth,\u201d Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told The Hill.<\/p>\n

Moderate Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) argued Democrats opposed to the DSA movement have failed to organize as effectively as the left.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who do not support the Democratic Socialists of America wring their hands at cocktail parties while the DSA is organizing. It\u2019s time to wake up,\u201d Suozzi told CNN\u2019s Dana Bash this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for a great deal of hard work to out-organize the extremists on the right and the left,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Veteran Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf agreed that the DSA candidates \u201cran much better campaigns,\u201d but said Israel still played a clear role in the New York primaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that Israel, a country the size of New Jersey 5,000 miles away, has become the centerpiece of the socialist obsession\u2026 is pretty significant,\u201d Sheinkopf told The Hill.<\/p>\n

Jeffries and other Democratic leaders stressed the need for the party to come together and focus on winning in November.<\/p>\n

Asked about the role Israel might have played in the New York primaries, Jeffries\u00a0told MS NOW\u2019s Jen Psaki<\/a>, \u201cI think for us, as House Democrats, we\u2019re just hopeful that everybody recognizes once we get through this primary season, that the enemy is Donald Trump and MAGA extremism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris Katz, top adviser to Mamdani and other Democratic candidates, framed the New York City wins as confirmation that people want to \u201cturn the page on a politics of big money and small ideas\u201d and embrace an affordability message.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf other Democrats don\u2019t want to take lessons away from that, that\u2019s up to them. But I think it follows a pattern we\u2019re seeing across the country of a deep hunger for outsider candidates who are going to challenge the status quo, who are going to challenge a broken establishment, and who are not just going to take the fight to Donald Trump,\u201d Katz told CNN this week.<\/p>\n

Katz also insisted that DSA candidates do not just resist money from AIPAC-aligned groups but from all big money groups, including those connected to cryptocurrency and private equity. He said the shift in the electorate \u201cis less driven by a unilateral focus on Israel and more focused on them picking up on the dishonesty of the politics that comes with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compared to Mamdani\u2019s campaign, however, strategists note that Israel appeared more frequently in the recent primaries. Mamdani faced criticism for his stance on Israel but led a disciplined campaign with a message focused on affordability and cost of living.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question of what was decisive for the voters that put the DSA people over the top I think is a little trickier than it might have been. It\u2019s not a broad-based ideological battle,\u201d Bennett said. \u201d[Israel] was kind of a signpost for a lot of these voters about where they ought to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were chanting \u2018River to the Sea\u2019 at the victory parties for these people,\u201d he added, referring to an anti-Israel chant. \u201cWhen they chant that at your victory, you can be pretty sure that your most fervent supporters care about that above all else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

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