AIPAC is increasingly becoming a lightning rod. The question is whether the party will allow its extremist fringe to define its position on Israel, or whether the silent majority will finally speak out
November 21, 2025 17:34
With Zohran Mamdani’s election, the rise of anti-Zionists is in full swing. They’re openly taking aim at both Israel and its American supporters, reshaping the Democratic Party.
Democratic candidates have read the polls – like the one from Gallup in March finding that “Democrats sympathise with the Palestinians over the Israelis by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio (59 per cent vs. 21 per cent)” – and many have concluded Democrats’ future is anti-Zionist.
Jewish communal professional Steven Goldstein told me the anti-Zionist strategy is clear: “Give the impression by being the loudest voices that their voices are a majority, and that in turn becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that actually turns into a real majority, as polls have shown.” The cascading effects include many elected officials sidling leftward on Israel-related issues and challengers leading with anti-Zionist campaign messaging.
Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres, House Democrats’ most vocal pro-Israel voice, has two primary challengers. Former New York State Assemblyman Michael Blake’s campaign launch video included clips of anti-Zionist actor Mark Ruffalo and an anti-Zionist influencer who defended the May murder of two Israeli embassy employees, while Blake intoned, “Ritchie Torres cares more about Bibi than he cares about the Bronx, more about AIPAC than he does about your academics.” Meanwhile, socialist Andre Easton tweeted that he’s running “to fight for the Bronx – not billionaires who fund genocide in Palestine”. Easton’s video contrasted Torres’ support for Israel with his alleged disregard for constituents’ poverty.
Elsewhere in New York City, Rep. Dan Goldman could again face Israel boycott-supporter Yuh-Line Niou, who narrowly lost in 2022. Other possible challengers include Brad Lander, New York City’s Jewish, Mamdani-supporting Comptroller, and City councilwoman Alexa Avilés, whom Jewish Insider reported has accused Israel of genocide and said Congress “is very much controlled by AIPAC”.
AIPAC is clearly a lightning rod in left-wing New England. Jewish Insider reported that Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, previously deemed moderate, “would reject any further donations from AIPAC and would return more than $30,000 from the group” the day after launching his Senate campaign. Jordan Wood, a House candidate in nearby Maine, recently said “he would reject contributions from AIPAC” pointing to Democrats’ distrust over how that money affects “foreign aid to Israel”, Jewish Insider reported. Progressive Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has made anti-AIPAC messaging central to his campaign.
Even “Midwestern nice” has made room for anti-Zionism. Anti-Israel Zeteo asked Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about “Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state”. He “sidestepped” the question, Jewish Insider reported. El-Sayed also claimed AIPAC’s bipartisan donors are “MAGA billionaires... try[ing] to dictate the outcome for a Democratic primary”.
Down south, Georgia’s gubernatorial primary includes State Rep. Ruwa Romman, whom the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported backed the anti-Israel “‘Leave it Blank’ protest vote [campaign] against then-President Joe Biden” last year. Jewish Insider further reported that Romman “called on Democrats to ‘ban AIPAC funding’ in Democratic primaries”, supported a one-state solution, dubbed the Abraham Accords “disastrous” and opposed “a resolution denouncing Hamas and its [American] supporters”, offering solidarity to American Jews, and affirming Israel’s right to self-defence.
New examples keep appearing. Locations vary, but the details follow familiar patterns. Candidates define themselves in opposition to AIPAC and its American membership or elected Democrats they portray as overly pro-Israel. That is, Democratic candidates are increasingly defining themselves in opposition to Jews, the Jewish state, and Israel’s non-Jewish friends.
Jewish Democratic Georgia State Rep. Esther Panitch told me: “This represents a troubling shift where a vocal minority within the Democratic coalition has made anti-Zionism a litmus test for progressive credentials.” Not coincidentally, that litmus test puts many lifelong Jewish Democratic Zionists in a tight spot. Goldstein, for example, spent decades as an active Democrat, including serving as a delegate to three Democratic presidential conventions. He “couldn’t stand” being “attacked and otherized” by anti-Zionist activists and felt pushed to choose “between my party and my Judaism,” which is “inextricably intertwined with Zionism”. Goldstein left the Party in July.
For Panitch, “The question is whether the Democratic Party will allow this extremist fringe to define its position on Israel, or whether the silent majority will finally speak out. People of good conscience need to make clear there’s a bright line between legitimate policy criticism and the antisemitism of denying Jewish self-determination.”
That’s a distinction with a difference. It’s also a distinction voters should understand but won’t be learning from anti-Zionist elected officials. Zionists will have to urgently fill the gap.
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