{"id":367957,"date":"2026-10-08T16:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T16:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367957\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T16:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T16:14:09","slug":"nyc-area-gop-lawmakers-use-oct-7-to-attack-democrats-on-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367957\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC-area GOP lawmakers use Oct. 7 to attack Democrats on Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two endangered Republican lawmakers from NYC suburbs are using the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks to showcase their strong support for Israel<\/a> \u2014 and lash out at Democrats.<\/p>\n

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) angrily slammed Mayor Mamdani as a \u201crabid antisemite\u201d<\/a> after Hizzoner issued a statement about the anniversary that mourned the deaths of both Israelis and Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\u201c@NYCMayor: \u201cit\u2019s the Jews fault they got butchered on October 7th,\u201d Lawler tweeted.<\/a> \u201cHey Zohran, your Mr. Nice Guy bulls\u2013t isn\u2019t fooling anyone anymore. We all know you are a rabid antisemite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (center) attends a prayer vigil and peace rally in which pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters faced-off in Manhattan’s Union Square on Oct. 7, 2026, on the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack in Israel. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-New Jersey) took aim at his Democratic rival Rebecca Bennett,<\/a> noting that his opponent failed to mention the word \u201cIsrael\u201d in her statement marking the anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat silence is cowardly and a betrayal of America\u2019s values,\u201d Kean tweeted<\/a>. \u201cI am proud to stand with Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Mamdani, Bennett frames herself as a moderate supporter of Israel. She didn\u2019t mention the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands<\/a> or the broader Middle East conflict in her statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must continue to stand with the Jewish community here in New Jersey and across the globe against antisemitism and hate,\u201d Bennett said in the statement.<\/p>\n

\"RebeccaRebecca Bennett, the Democratic candidate in the U.S. Congressional District 7 speaks during a debate with Republican candidate Tom Kean, Jr., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Rahway, N.J. (AP Photo\/Stefan Jeremiah)<\/p>\n

Both Lawler and Kean are seeking to use their strong support for Israel as a wedge issue in their tricky reelection fights.<\/a><\/p>\n

Lawler\u2019s Westchester County-based NY-17 district has one of the largest concentrations of Jewish voters in the entire nation while Kean represents smaller Jewish communities in western Jersey suburbs and rural horse country.<\/p>\n

Lawler is locked in a toss-up race<\/a> with military veteran Democrat Cait Conley in the swing district that is one of only three in the nation that a GOP lawmaker won but President Trump lost.<\/p>\n

Kean is considered a serious underdog<\/a> to win a third term in his own affluent swing district. The son of a popular former governor, Kean badly damaged his chances<\/a> by disappearing from view for months, an absence he later blamed on treatment for depression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two endangered Republican lawmakers from NYC suburbs are using the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[85,9,12,56,63,65,64,87],"class_list":["post-367957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-latest-headlines","tag-new-york","tag-news","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}