The Democratic Socialists are ascendant in New York. Here's their ‘better vision’ for America - Steven Richards

 

by Steven Richards

Traditional Democrats are apprehensive about the breadth of victories by socialist candidates in Tuesday’s primaries, revealing the growing power of such candidates in the party.

 

In a shock to the Democratic Party establishment, several socialist candidates in the mold of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani ousted incumbents and cemented their influence in the nation's largest city, long considered the financial capital of the world. 

The candidates centered their campaigns on radical changes that have become the calling card of a new brand of socialist Democrats. Their platform includes abolishing ICE, ending deportations, opposing the state of Israel, implementing Medicare for all, and creating federal job guarantees.

Mamdani’s endorsements put the mayor on a collision course with establishment Democratic leadership, and he came out victorious. The socialist victories were specifically a defeat for Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who backed the old-school incumbents and doubted Mamdani’s potential for long-term influence over the party. 

The results have prompted more moderate Democrats to raise the alarm about the growing strength and influence of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) within their own ranks. 

“People who do not support the DSA wring their hands at cocktail parties, while the DSA is organizing,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., told Axios. “It was a tough night,” Gregory Meeks, another Democrat from New York, told the outlet. New York Attorney General Letitia James said Mamdani’s endorsements threaten to “blow up” the Democratic Party. 

NY AG Letitia James: "Disappointed" in Mandami

“Some of the candidates that he has supported are individuals who do not understand the politics of New York City, the cultural differences from district to district, who have not been part of the history and the struggle of some of these districts, and are relatively new to the body politic,” James told CNN. 

“All of us are a little frustrated with the Democratic Party. But you don’t blow it up. That’s what MAGA has done,” she added. 

Mamdani’s decision to endorse candidates challenging establishment-backed figures and bucking party leadership is part of an attempt to “radically” reorient the Democratic Party towards his vision, those close to the mayor have said. 

“He’s seeing that opportunity – that we can radically change the Democratic Party,” said Faiz Shakir, an advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders and described as a friend of Mamdani’s. “Like Bernie, he's not saying I'm doing this out of spite against you, dear leadership. He's saying, I am supporting these candidates who have a better vision, and I am prepared to lose if it has to be the case.”

Platforms and policies defined

In perhaps one of the most shocking races of the night, DSA-endorsed Darializa Avila Chevalier knocked off five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who helmed the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Espaillat has represented the Upper Manhattan district for nearly a decade and was backed by Jeffries. 

Chevalier, on the other hand, has been a community organizer who graduated from Columbia in 2016. Before running for office, she worked with the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem, a public defenders office. 

Chevalier’s worldview was heavily influenced by an internship with Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, teaching English to Palestinian children in Nablus, West Bank. The 2014 Israel-Gaza war, which lasted about 50 days, started just after she returned to the United States. 

“That was a really formative period for me, because I was essentially living in the heart of the occupation and seeing the way that Palestinians had to navigate all these systems, the impact that it had on children as young as the ones that I was working with,” Avila Chevalier told City & State New York. “I came back, and I couldn't unsee all those things. And I started seeing them in our own systems, right? Our systems of policing, of deportation, of the controlling of our movement.”

Her identity as a pro-Palestine, and anti-Israel, activist was at the center of her long-shot campaign. Before launching her bid for Congress, Chevalier had spent years organizing and participating in protests against the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The war was sparked when Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group that controlled the Gaza Strip, conducted a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

The following day, Chevalier was out on the streets of New York, participating in a protest organized by leftist groups. Rallygoers held signs reading “Resistance is Justified when People are Occupied” and faced criticism for appearing to support the attacks that left more than one thousand Israelis dead. Some of the rally organizers were later sued for allegedly acting as “collaborators and propagandists” for Hamas in the United States. 

Claims to be a "human rights advocate" for Palestinians

During the campaign, Chevalier defended attending the rally, suggesting Israel’s response to the Hamas attack had the potential to become “a really outsized reaction.” 

“I can only say I have been advocating for the human rights of Palestinians for my adult life. And as someone who has seen a pattern, whenever anything happens on the ground (in Israel), there's always a really outsized reaction that costs thousands of people their lives,” Avila Chevalier told City & State earlier this month.

Chevalier’s activism ultimately encouraged her to convert to Islam because of the "grace and love and passion" that her Muslim friends had for "social justice,” she said in a speech at a New York Mosque.

In addition to pro-Palestine activism, Chevalier has taken an extreme position on immigration law and deportations. Like many of her DSA colleagues, Chevalier calls for ICE to be abolished, but has gone even further to suggest that all deportations are wrong. 

“I still believe that all deportations are wrong,” Chevalier said in an interview with Vox earlier this month. When asked if that would include those who had committed criminal offenses in the United States after entering illegally, she doubled down. 

Chevalier has also faced scrutiny for a series of deleted posts to social media expressing support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, seizing private property, and nationalizing industries. 

“A world without borders—just like a world without prisons or police—is possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward,” Chevalier posted to Twitter in September 2021. During that same month, she also posted: “Yes, literally, abolish the border” and “all deportation is wrong.” In a handful of posts, Chevalier appeared to express support for key tenets of Marxism and abolishing the police. 

“Seize the means of production,” she wrote in one post. 

“No. It means ending policing full stop. Period. No more police at all ever,” she wrote in another. 

Chevalier tried to distance herself from her old tweets during the campaign. “I have grown considerably in the years since these tweets, and I am focused on our community and our community’s future,” Chevalier told CNN when the outlet asked about the posts.  

Claire Valdez: "Abolish ICE, free Palestine, organize your union, and join DSA!"

In New York’s 7th Congressional District, Mamdani backed Claire Valdez, a New York Assembly member, union organizer, and DSA member. 

Valdez adopted a similar platform to Mamdani, including a “Housing for All” policy with universal rent control and public funding for housing. She has also called for the abolition of ICE, the legalization of “millions of immigrant Americans, Medicare for all, “Queer and Trans Liberation,” and an end to all weapons sales and military aid to Israel, according to her campaign website. 

Valdez has been arrested multiple times during protests outside the offices of New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and federal immigration facilities, protesting the war in Gaza and President Trump’s immigration policies, respectively. 

In her victory speech on Tuesday night, she succinctly laid out her priorities: “Solidarity forever, abolish ICE, free Palestine, organize your union, and join DSA!"

Against incumbent Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman, Mamdani backed Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller who once ran against Mamdani for the mayoral nomination, but later backed him.

Lander, who is himself Jewish, has embraced much of the language and policy agenda of the pro-Palestinian movement, including describing Israel's conduct in Gaza as genocide and pledging to oppose additional U.S. military aid while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues, though he declined to go as far as the others. 

Lander, who was once affiliated with the DSA, actually ended his membership with the organization for advertising the controversial pro-Palestinian rally which Chevalier had attended on Oct. 8, 2023. However, that did not stop him from working with Chevalier in the election. In the campaign, Lander attacked Goldman for taking donations from AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the organization that has become a frequently invoked boogeyman for critics of Israel on both the left and the right. 

He also criticized Goldman for voting for military aid packages to Israel during its wars. “We can't continue to be complicit in genocide,” Lander said of his opposition to those packages. 

Like the other candidates, Lander’s campaign website calls for abolishing ICE, packing the Supreme Court, building more public housing, and Medicare for all. 

Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/democratic-socialists-are-ascendant-new-york-what-their-better-vision

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After testy exchange, Senate hands Trump win by rejecting bill to rein in his war on Iran - John Solomon

 

by John Solomon

Had it passed, the bill would've required President Trump to veto it in order to block it

 

The Senate late Wednesday rejected a measure to restrain President Donald Trump's war against Iran, handing a win to the president just hours after a spirited meeting with GOP senators that devolved into shouting.

The procedural motion failed 50-47, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voting with Democrats.

Just one  day earlier, four GOP senators defected on a similar resolution so Wednesday's vote was hailed as a win for Trump.

"Wow! The Senate just changed its vote on Iran from 50-48 against, to 50-47 for," Trump wrote on social media. "Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy changed. Thank you to Leader John Thune, Lindsey Graham, Bernie Moreno, and all. This vote puts Iran on notice!"

Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine's resolution would have directed Mr. Trump to "remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran," unless authorized by Congress."

How did it passed, the bill would've required President Trump to veto it in order to block it. 

John Solomon

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/congress/after-testy-exchange-senate-hands-trump-win-rejecting-bill-rein-his-war-iran

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At least 164 dead in Venezuelan earthquake, strongest for the country in over a century - Kevin Killough

 

by Kevin Killough

The quake could be felt as far away as Brazil's Amazon, over 1,000 miles from Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

 

At least 164 people have died and another 971 were injured in two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening. 

The earthquakes, which measured 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude, were the strongest earthquakes to hit the country in over a century, the Associated Press reported. 

The quakes could be felt as far away as Brazil's Amazon, over 1,000 miles from Venezuela's capital, Caracas. 

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Thursday that authorities are trying to rescue people who are believed to be trapped inside the rubble of collapsed buildings. She urged businesses to make equipment available to aid in the response.  

Kevin Killough

Source: https://justthenews.com/world/latin-america/least-164-dead-venezuelan-earthquake-strongest-country-over-century

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The JD Vance foreign-policy test ride is a disaster - Jonathan S. Tobin

 

cby Jonathan S. Tobin

Whether he succeeds in getting a “peace” agreement with Iran or not, the vice president’s attempt at appeasement isn’t going to help him or President Trump.

 

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Lake Lucerne Summit, aimed at advancing a deal to end the war with Iran at the Bürgenstock Resort, Lake Lucerne, near Stansstad, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026. Photo by Nathan Howard-POOL/Getty Images.

 

After months of cooling his heels as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took the lead on a number of foreign-policy initiatives, including the war on Iran, U.S. Vice President JD Vance has now emerged from the shadows. Having opposed the war from the start, Vance’s stock rose within Trumpworld as the president grew frustrated with Iran’s refusal to surrender.

As a Memorandum of Understanding was agreed to between the United States and Iran, with Israel cut out of the process, it was Vance taking questions about the issue on the White House podium. He was then dispatched to Switzerland to negotiate a conclusion to the war that would presumably ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, lower gas prices and somehow also accomplish the key initial goal of the war: ending the threat of an Iranian nuclear program.

Persuading Trump to sideline the highly competent Rubio—and being allowed to both shelve and insult America’s Israeli allies—was no small triumph for the vice president. Putting Vance at the helm of American foreign policy represented a victory for the neo-isolationist and anti-Israel wing of the administration and the Republican Party. It also further solidified, at least for the moment, the vice president’s status as the frontrunner to succeed Trump in 2028.

Be careful what you wish for …
Nevertheless, the veep should have been more careful about what he had wished for.

It was one thing to argue that the war on Iran wasn’t worth the price the president was paying for it in terms of public disapproval of the conflict and higher gas prices, both of which seemed sure to hurt the GOP in the fall midterm elections. It’s quite another to be tasked with coming up with an agreement to conclude a war without being saddled with responsibility for a pact with Iran that is almost certain to be construed by America’s enemies and allies, not to mention the electorate, as a humiliating defeat.

Trump may have been joking when he said, “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.” But having been put behind the wheel for a test ride to see if his approach to world affairs is better than Rubio’s, the vice president is going to be hard-pressed to avoid driving the country and the administration into a ditch from which it will not easily be extricated.

Vance put himself in the situation because Trump was frustrated with the war. The joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes had succeeded in inflicting enormous damage on Iran’s military as well as its nuclear and missile programs, and eliminated most of its senior leaders. But whether or not, as critics of Israel have asserted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oversold the president with claims that the Islamist terror regime would soon collapse in the face of these devastating blows, Tehran wasn’t surrendering.

It countered these attacks by menacing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, thus raising fuel prices worldwide and putting economic pressure on Trump to stop the war. In return, the United States placed a blockade on Iranian ports that threatened Tehran with economic collapse. But the impulsive Trump lacked the patience to wait out the Islamists and agreed to first a ceasefire in April and then the MoU that, at least temporarily, ended the war.

Iran appeasement 2.0
As it stands now, that document sets up Iran to have won the conflict. Washington is already unfreezing assets that will result in the regime getting billions in funds that it can use to solidify its tyrannical hold on power, as well as reinforce its beleaguered Hamas and Hezbollah terror auxiliaries. Even worse, Trump appears to be willing to allow Iran to keep its missiles and to include the current conflict in Lebanon in the deal, thus enabling the Hezbollah terrorists to survive and to continue threatening northern Israel with continued attacks.

In exchange for this, the Islamists look to being let off the hook with recycled promises about not building nuclear weapons that—short of restarting a war that he is apparently tired of—Trump lacks the leverage to enforce.

If he doesn’t reverse course, then there will be no avoiding comparisons of this attempt at appeasement to former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump had rightly criticized as disastrously weak.

And the man he has sent to Lake Lucerne to wrap up a deal along these lines and to somehow do it in a way that won’t look like an abject defeat is Vance.

It’s true that, at least until he was sent to Switzerland to accomplish this impossible feat, Vance at least got the opportunity to do something he and his fellow neo-isolationists had been itching to do for many months: to insult and treat Israel like a vassal state.

At a White House presser on June 18, Vance had mischaracterized the MoU with Iran to make it not sound as if it were an American defeat. Contrary to his assertions, the economic benefits to Tehran for simply agreeing not to threaten traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will not await proof of its good behavior. In addition to lifting the blockade on Iranian ports, allowing them to resume the sale of oil, the release of billions in frozen funds immediately gives the Islamist regime a lifeline that will enable it both to survive and continue funding its terrorist proxies.

It’s also clear now that the United States has no intention of forcing the Islamic regime to give up the ballistic missiles it has built to threaten Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Among other things, Vance also told an obvious lie when he claimed that the release of funds to Iran was somehow not as bad as Obama’s similar gesture. Contrary to his assertion, Obama did not send U.S. taxpayer dollars to Iran but, like Trump, also unfroze Iranian assets.

Insulting Israel
But savoring his moment at the same podium from which Rubio had informed the press about America’s efforts to decisively defeat Iran, Vance turned his ire on the Jewish state. He scolded Israelis, including members of the government, for having the temerity to criticize the United States for abandoning the war, strengthening an enemy nation and betraying the persecuted people of Iran by ensuring that their tyrants will stay in power.

He warned them that they had no recourse but to accept whatever Trump did because “Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time, and he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower.”

What’s more, he added, “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”

The not-so-subtle message to Jerusalem was that it was a vassal state that had better shut up about being betrayed in this manner. And while Democrats who appeased Tehran knew that they had to put up with being criticized for their feckless behavior, Trump and Vance made it clear that they won’t tolerate Israelis doing the same to them.

That was a pointed reference to Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who, unlike Netanyahu, didn’t hold back when it came to expressing their feelings about what the Americans did. And while the two often say and do outrageous things that do not aid Jerusalem’s cause, Ben-Gvir wasn’t wrong when he said the United States ought to have dealt with “the Nazis of the 21st century”—Iran—“just as the United States dealt with the Nazis of the 20th century.”

Israel is no vassal state. The United States gets enormous benefits from its alliance with this democratic Middle East partner in terms of weapon development and intelligence. As Vance himself stated in 2024, it’s the ideal MAGA ally since, unlike Europe, Israel fights alongside America.

Still, Vance’s willingness to characterize Iran’s possession of weapons to threaten other nations as morally equivalent to Israel’s military was troubling. “You can’t tell a country, whether Israel or Iran, they’re not allowed to have any self-defense,” he said.

And yet, Vance revealed his own bias against Israel when, perhaps channeling the blood libels spread by leftist antisemites like his podcaster friend Tucker Carlson, he warned the Israelis that those who decried an American decision to surrender were simply being bloodthirsty.

“I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of 9 million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have,” said Vance.

That accusation was as reckless as it was unfair. Israel isn’t trying to kill its way out of anything. It was viciously attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, by Iranian minions who carried out the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. It was the target of direct missile barrages launched on April 14 and Oct. 1, 2024. And it was attacked by missiles, rockets and drones throughout the war that started on Feb. 28, leading to casualties, damage and sending much of the country into bomb shelters day after day.

Had America been similarly attacked, we know very well that Trump and Vance would have exacted a far greater revenge on the assailants than the targeted strikes that Israel executed on Iranian targets.

Being able to vent his contempt and lack of sympathy for an ally that fought side by side with American forces and who were essential to the success America achieved may have given Vance some satisfaction. But it won’t get him out of the fix in which he now finds himself.

A weak negotiator
Simply put, the Iranians know that Vance’s position in the talks is weak. That’s why they are treating him with the same contempt that they once treated Obama’s envoys, as they continually take back any concessions he says he’s wrung out of them, making it clear that if he wants an agreement, then it will have to be on their terms.

We don’t know yet how the negotiations will end. Perhaps Trump’s natural aversion to bad deals and his unwillingness to be a party to a pact that will rightly be characterized as an abject surrender that will not achieve any of America’s war goals will cause him to recall Vance and return to war. He ought to know that as unpopular as the war may be, ending it in defeat will be even more unpopular. Having invested so much political capital in the conflict already, he won’t win it back by mimicking Obama’s appeasement.

Or perhaps he is so sick of the conflict and too panicked by gas prices, plummeting polls and the prospect of a Democratic sweep of the midterms to reverse course again.

Either way, he has set up Vance to fail. Trash-talking Israel may earn him cheers from the antisemitic groyper wing of the GOP, but neither they nor his fellow Israel-bashers at mainstream media outlets like The New York Times will win him the 2028 GOP presidential nomination. And if the vice president is the architect of an end to the war that will be the moral equivalent of President Joe Biden’s retreat from Afghanistan, then it may earn him a place in history, but not one that will be a stepping stone to the Oval Office.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

Source: https://www.jns.org/opinion/jonathan-s-tobin/the-jd-vance-foreign-policy-test-ride-is-a-disaster

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Gaza Board of Peace prepares for Cyprus summit as first Moroccan contingent deploys - analysis - Seth J. Frantzman

 

by Seth J. Frantzman

“The ISF welcomes its newest members from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. Their arrival strengthens the international effort to support the people of Gaza,” the Board posted on social media.

 

General Dagvin Anderson, Commander of U.S. Africa Command (2nd-R) inspects a guard of honour with Moroccan General Mohamed Berrid (R) ahead of their meeting as part of the annual African Lion joint exercise in Agadir on May 7, 2026.

(photo credit: Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP via Getty Images)

On June 23, the Board of Peace highlighted the important role that Morocco will play in the International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza.

“The ISF welcomes its newest members from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. Their arrival strengthens the international effort to support the people of Gaza,” the Board posted on social media.

Although the post is light on details, Morocco’s role is expected to be important. It comes as a meeting of the Board is expected in Cyprus, and there are calls in Gaza for protests against Hamas this week.

Arab News, a media outlet in Saudi Arabia, reported that “officers from the Moroccan military, whose deployment was announced in February, have arrived in Israel to join a nascent international force for Gaza, US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace said Tuesday.”

The report noted that an official had told the AFP that the contingent arrived on June 18 at the headquarters of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in southern Israel.

US President Donald Trump holds a gavel during a signing ceremony at the inaugural meeting of the ''Board of Peace'' at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on February 19, 2026. (credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Contributions to the ISF's overall structure, policing, personnel

“The contingent is expected to contribute to the development of the force’s overall structure and provide expertise in several areas, including policing, the official said. He confirmed the presence of four Moroccan officers but did not specify whether the contingent included additional personnel,” Arab News noted.

This is important and comes as the region shifts focus from the conflict with Iran to what will happen next in Gaza.

Last week, a source told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas would not be allowed to veto what comes next and spoil efforts to achieve the next steps toward peace.

Morocco has joined several other countries that have committed to backing the ISF. Morocco has warm ties with Israel and is an important country in North Africa. It is important for security and has historic warm ties with the US. The ISF is an important component in advancing the peace plan envisioned by US President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration secured a ceasefire in Gaza in October 2025 after working with Arab and Muslim countries and Israel to achieve a deal. The deal enabled the rapid establishment of the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel.

This helped enable aid and coordination of support for civilians in Gaza in mid-October.

The US also got UN support for the 20-point peace plan for Gaza. In November 2025, the UN noted that “the UN Security Council adopted a resolution [2803] on Monday that endorses a peace plan for Gaza put forward by United States President Donald Trump and a temporary international force in the enclave following two years of war.”

At the time, the resolution welcomed the establishment of the Board of Peace and also authorized it “to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza ‘to deploy under unified command acceptable to the BoP.” Countries that contribute were expected to work in “close consultation and cooperation” with Egypt and Israel.

In January, the White House noted that at a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, “President Donald J. Trump formally ratified the Charter of the Board of Peace - establishing it as an official international organization. President Trump, who is serving as the Board’s Chairman, was joined by Founding Members representing countries around the world who have committed to building a secure and prosperous future for Gaza that delivers lasting peace, stability, and opportunity for its people.”

A step towards transforming Gaza from region of despair to hope

The White House also said this was “another pivotal step forward in realizing President Trump’s vision of transforming Gaza from a region plagued by conflict and despair into one defined by opportunity, hope, and vitality.”

In the months since January, progress has been slow on establishing the ISF and the forces that will be part of it. Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Indonesia, and Albania were named as countries contributing.

However, so far, it is not clear whether Indonesia will contribute the reported forces. Kosovo and Albania sent several personnel to evaluate a future deployment to Gaza in late April.

The post about the Moroccan support is important. As with the Kosovo and Albanian contributions, the initial number of Moroccan personnel appears small.

Arab News said that four Moroccan officers had arrived. It was not clear if or when more would arrive.

“In February, Morocco committed to deploying police officers and military personnel to the Gaza Strip, becoming the first Arab country to do so publicly. In mid-January, Washington announced the launch of the second phase of Trump’s plan for Gaza aimed at bringing a definitive end to the war triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel," Arab News noted.

The initial vision for the ISF was that thousands of personnel would help to create stability in Gaza. This is also supposed to work with a new Palestinian police force that is supposed to be trained.

Egypt, Morocco, and European countries appear set to play a potential role in this effort as well.

The Cyprus Mail reported on June 24 that “the Gaza Board of Peace will hold a two-day summit in Cyprus on June 30 and July 1, Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis confirmed on Wednesday, though he was keen to stress that the government remains on the board’s periphery.”

The report quoted the Cypriots as saying that “the Republic of Cyprus is neither an organizer, nor a co-organizer of the event, of course... The fact that this board’s administrative arm... has chosen our country, a country which has proven in practice how beneficial it is and how many initiatives it has undertaken, as well as the efficiency of those initiatives in terms of humanitarian support for the civilian population in Gaza, has its own high importance.”

The report added that “Cyprus was one of dozens of countries invited to join the Board of Peace, with Kombos saying on the day of the board’s inauguration that the island was waiting for the European Union to form a common position on the matter before taking a decision.”

Much work remains to be done. There is the Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) that is supposed to play a role. There is also the Board’s High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov.

In Gaza, there are also calls for protests against Hamas.

This is expected to begin this week on Friday, according to information circulating on social media. Hamas has already begun a crackdown as it fears it may finally be confronted by the 2 million civilians trapped under its rule.

This also comes amid reports that the IDF continues to slowly expand the area of its control in Gaza. Yesterday, a civilian contractor working with the IDF was killed in a building collapse in Gaza.

Raed Abu Al-Qian of Hura was working on engineering projects in Gaza on behalf of the Defense Ministry. 

Seth J. Frantzman

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-900526

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Turkey: Hamas's Safe Haven and the West's Dangerous Blind Spot - Khaled Abu Toameh

 

by Khaled Abu Toameh

At a time when the United States and its allies are attempting to curb Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, Turkey has become a critical conduit for Iran's support of Hamas.

 

• As the Trump Administration seeks to stabilize the Gaza Strip through its "Board of Peace" initiative, one participant stands out as particularly ill-suited for the role of mediator: Turkey.

• According to Israeli authorities, Hamas's so-called "West Bank Headquarters" operates from Turkey, where it recruits terrorists, transfers weapons and money, and directs attacks against Israel.

• These are not the actions of a neutral mediator. They are the actions of a patron.

• More troubling are reports that Hamas has exploited Turkey's financial system to facilitate massive transfers of money. According to Israeli military and intelligence officials, Hamas operatives in Turkey managed a secret money-exchange network that transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from Iran to Hamas leaders.

• At a time when the United States and its allies are attempting to curb Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, Turkey has become a critical conduit for Iran's support of Hamas.

• Meanwhile, Turkey's rhetoric toward Israel has grown increasingly extreme.

• Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci recently declared that Jerusalem would one day again come under Turkish rule. "Just as in the past, those places will again be ours," he said. "They will again, God willing, come under our rule and authority."

• Turkey's outspoken intentions... are what make the notion that Turkey can help disarm Hamas is so cringeworthy. Expecting Erdogan's government to pressure Hamas into surrendering its weapons is like expecting Iran to dismantle Hezbollah.

• Turkey's leaders have spent years defending Hamas, legitimizing Hamas, funding Hamas-related activities, and providing Hamas with diplomatic and political cover. Why would anyone seriously believe that they will now help dismantle the very organization they have nurtured?

• The United States can longer afford to ignore Turkey's unreliability.

• Washington needs to seriously reassess its policy toward Turkey and stop viewing Erdogan's government as a neutral actor capable of advancing peace. A regime that openly embraces Hamas, hosts its operatives, tolerates its financial networks, and echoes its rhetoric is not being an honest broker.

• Turkey seems increasingly to be not part of the solution, but part of the problem.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have served as some of Hamas's most loyal supporters and protectors, and spent years defending Hamas, legitimizing it, funding Hamas-related activities, and providing it with diplomatic and political cover. Why would anyone seriously believe that they will now help dismantle the very organization they have nurtured? Pictured: Erdogan (right) welcomes Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal (center) and the late Ismail Haniyeh in Ankara on June 18, 2013. (Photo by Yasin Bulbul/AFP via Getty Images)

As the Trump Administration seeks to stabilize the Gaza Strip through its "Board of Peace" initiative, one participant stands out as particularly ill-suited for the role of mediator: Turkey.

The inclusion of Turkey in any effort to disarm Hamas or promote peace in the Middle East would be laughable if the stakes were not so high. For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have served as some of Hamas's most loyal supporters and protectors.

While Western officials continue to speak of Turkey as a valuable NATO ally and potential regional peacemaker, Hamas has transformed Turkish territory into one of its most important overseas operational bases.

The evidence is overwhelming.

Israeli security authorities recently revealed that they had foiled dozens of terrorist attacks directed by Hamas operatives based in Turkey. According to Israeli authorities, Hamas's so-called "West Bank Headquarters" operates from Turkey, where it recruits terrorists, transfers weapons and money, and directs attacks against Israel.

"Over the years, and with increased intensity over the past year, operatives in the West Bank Headquarters have been directing and advancing extensive military activity in Judea and Samaria and Israel from Turkish soil," Israel's Shin Bet security agency reported.

The agency identified Istanbul-based senior Hamas official Zaher Jabarin as the head of Hamas's West Bank operations and named several Hamas operatives living freely in Turkey while directing terrorist activities against Israel.

Among them are Ayman Sharawna, who allegedly recruits terrorists; Mohammed Mallah, who reportedly transfers funds for terrorist operations; Majed Jaaba, who assisted in obtaining the weapons used in a deadly shooting attack near Jerusalem; Walid Abu Nassar, who financed Hamas cells in Bethlehem; and Salam Yaish, who recruited operatives to carry out attacks.

The Shin Bet noted that these Hamas members "carry out their activities unhindered from Turkish territory" and exploit "infrastructure in the country to transfer instructions and funds" to terrorists in the West Bank.

Earlier this year, the Shin Bet announced that an investigation uncovered another Hamas-linked terror network in the West Bank that was directed by a Turkey-based operative, Mahmoud Radwan, and aimed to advance attacks against Israel.

Radwan, a Hamas member released in a prisoner-hostage exchange and deported to Turkey in January 2025, had been imprisoned in Israel for his role in the murder of an Israeli citizen, Yossi Alfasi, in 2001.

Turkey has never designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Instead, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly portrays Hamas as a legitimate political movement and "resistance" organization.

The distinction is not merely semantic. Turkey has allowed Hamas to establish a sophisticated operational base in its midst.

According to documents captured by the Israel Defense Forces during the Gaza war, Hamas uses Turkey not only as a political refuge but also as a base for planning terrorist attacks, recruiting operatives, transferring funds, and laundering money.

At least one document outlined Hamas's plan to establish a branch in Turkey dedicated to coordinating attacks against Israel abroad, including assassinations and attacks on Israeli vessels.

Hamas's presence in Turkey expanded significantly after the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, when hundreds of Palestinian convicted terrorists deported from Israel settled in Turkey. Over the years, Hamas built an extensive network of financial institutions, businesses, currency exchange offices, and logistical infrastructure that helped sustain its terrorist operations.

The relationship between Erdogan's government and Hamas is neither hidden not incidental: Turkish leaders openly meet with Hamas officials.

In January, Erdogan received a Hamas delegation in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin later met with senior Hamas leaders in Ankara to discuss the Gaza Strip, ceasefire arrangements, and regional developments. Hamas representatives used the occasion to thank Erdogan personally for Turkey's efforts.

Turkish intelligence and political officials regularly host Hamas delegations and maintain direct channels of communication with the group's leadership.

These are not the actions of a neutral mediator. They are the actions of a patron.

More troubling are reports that Hamas has exploited Turkey's financial system to facilitate massive transfers of money. According to Israeli military and intelligence officials, Hamas operatives in Turkey managed a secret money-exchange network that transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from Iran to Hamas leaders. The network used Turkish financial infrastructure to receive, store, move, and distribute Iranian funds intended for Hamas activities.

The significance of these allegations cannot be overstated.

At a time when the United States and its allies are attempting to curb Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, Turkey has become a critical conduit for Iran's support of Hamas.

Meanwhile, Turkey's rhetoric toward Israel has grown increasingly extreme.

Far from acting as a peacemaker, the Turkish president has repeatedly adopted language and narratives of Hamas itself.

In 2024, Erdogan declared: "Hamas is the same as Kuva – i Milliye [National Forces] in Turkey during the war of liberation."

By comparing Hamas to Turkey's national liberation movement, Erdogan effectively legitimizes a terrorist organization responsible for the October 7, 2023 massacre – the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

Erdogan has also warned that Israel would eventually target Turkey itself. "Unless its stopped," he said, Israel would "set its sights on Anatolia sooner or later."

Such statements are not merely inflammatory. They reinforce Hamas propaganda, demonize Israel, and encourage Islamist extremists throughout the region.

Even more alarming are direct threats emanating from Ankara.

Erdogan has suggested that Turkey could do to Israel what it did in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, remarks widely interpreted as threats of military intervention. Turkey supplied advanced armed drones, military advisors, and tactical support to its allied governments, which successfully shifted the balance of power on the battlefield.

Turkey's intervention in Libya in 2020 prevented the fall of the Libyan capital into the hands of General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army and saved Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord.

In the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Turkey acted as a staunch backer of Azerbaijan. Turkey provided it with intense military training, operational planning, and armed drones. The drones proved highly effective in destroying Armenian air defenses and heavily armed positions, and greatly contributed to Azerbaijan's decisive military victory.

Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci recently declared that Jerusalem would one day again come under Turkish rule. "Just as in the past, those places will again be ours," he said. "They will again, God willing, come under our rule and authority."

Such statements would provoke outrage if they came from any other government. Yet much of the international community has responded with silence.

The consequences are dangerous.

Every time Erdogan praises Hamas, receives Hamas delegations, accuses Israel of "genocide," or threatens Israel, he sends a message to Hamas that it enjoys powerful international backing.

Such rhetoric emboldens Hamas and other jihadist organizations. It encourages them to believe they can survive, regroup, and continue their war against Israel.

At least Erdogan's statements clarify the intentions of his government, rather than keeping them quietly hidden where no one can see them.

Turkey's outspoken intentions, however, are what make the notion that Turkey can help disarm Hamas is so cringeworthy. Expecting Erdogan's government to pressure Hamas into surrendering its weapons is like expecting Iran to dismantle Hezbollah.

Turkey's leaders have spent years defending Hamas, legitimizing Hamas, funding Hamas-related activities, and providing Hamas with diplomatic and political cover. Why would anyone seriously believe that they will now help dismantle the very organization they have nurtured?

The reality appears to be that Erdogan has perfected a double game.

To Western audiences, Turkey presents itself as a responsible regional power and indispensable NATO ally.

To Hamas and other Islamist movements, Turkey offers political support, diplomatic protection, financial opportunities, and ideological solidarity.

The United States can no longer afford to ignore Turkey's unreliability. Washington needs to seriously reassess its policy toward Turkey and stop viewing Erdogan's government as a neutral actor capable of advancing peace. A regime that openly embraces Hamas, hosts its operatives, tolerates its financial networks, and echoes its rhetoric is not being an honest broker.

Turkey seems increasingly to be not part of the solution, but part of the problem.

• Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter) 

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22650/turkey-hamas-safe-haven

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Christian Giants Stand Up to Pride - Arthur Schaper

 

by Arthur Schaper

The Pride backlash is growing as Americans push back against being told what to celebrate — and a few baseball players are showing that saying “no” still matters.

 

“Oh, I don’t wear the ribbon.”

—Kosmo Kramer, “The Sponge,” Seinfeld

It’s Pride Month, and people have had enough of pride.

It’s a deadly sin, after all, one that has brought down more kings, kingdoms, and communities than anyone would care to enumerate.

Pride brought down Lucifer and humiliated the British Empire when 13 rag-tag colonies, prospering under salutary neglect, bested them in the American Revolution; pride turned Hitler from a German nationalist into a megalomaniacal maniac, one who thought he could take down Russia and then the world; and pride has humiliated anti-reality communists and progressives across the globe ever since, destroying their every chance.

Pride leaves nothing but destruction in its wake, and yet the LGBT movement and its adherents turned their perverse, self-serving, shameful celebrations into “Pride parades.”

What were they thinking?

I have talked to older homosexual activists, including one of the city watchdogs in Glendale, CA. He naively asserted that there is nothing wrong with Pride, since years ago it was just homosexuals finally enjoying the opportunities to step out into the public, not just come out.

And there’s so much more that’s coming out that it’s time for some of it to go back in.

I endured the 2026 LA Pride parade last week. Offensive yet true, the homosexual organizations insisted on having their fleshly fete on June 14. That’s Flag Day, too, mind you, a day designated for an emblem that defines all of us.

LGBT activists have a problem with that, and in Los Angeles, they insisted on placing their flag, their six-colored almost-rainbow, on everything.

They insisted on making June their month. LGBT activists have mandated it.

You have to have the flag! The same way that Kosmo Kramer was “required” to wear the ribbon at the AIDS walk.

People are pushing back precisely because they “have to.” This is America!

The latest pushback occurred among the San Francisco Giants baseball players.

When they took the field, one refused to wear the Pride baseball caps. Three others wrote Bible verses on their baseball caps with the Pride colors.

Here’s one report:

Giants starter Landen Roupp, 27, pitched nearly five innings with “Gen 9:12-16” written on the front of his Pride Night cap next to the rainbow-colored SF logo. The passage refers to Genesis 9, in which God places a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant with humanity after the flood.

Relief pitchers JT Brubaker, 32, and Ryan Walker, 30, also wrote Bible verses on their caps. Brubaker cited Genesis 9:13-15, while Roupp and Walker referenced Genesis 9:12-16.

New York Times LGBT ally Grant Brisbee shamed the players for creating conflict, turning the so-called “pride night” event into an “us v. them” event. Seriously.

KNBR’s The Sports Leader warned the players about opening up a conflict, with commentator Mike Krukow adding, “When you’re a player in this environment, it’s your responsibility to know just how sensitive this city is in regard to that culture of freedom in the way you live your life.”

Sensitivity? Pride month, including the parades and the promotion, is filled with garish drag queens and skimpily dressed LGBT militants prancing around kids. And they are lecturing us about sensitivity?

Politicians and public figures have been canceled, businesses have lost business, and individuals have lost reputations because they rejected Pride. The general public has had enough, and the Giants players (with giant courage) are giving us the courage to say so.

But instead of siding with common decency and respecting the public outcry, the Major League Baseball Association reprimanded the players who wrote Bible verses on their caps.

So, promoting sexual degeneracy is OK, but sharing your Christian faith is not? Multiple faith traditions respect those scriptures. Even for people who are not necessarily religious, it’s not like those verses are going to jump out and harm anyone who reads them!

Thankfully, Vice President JD Vance stepped into this tempest over a baseball cap and sided with the players who shared verses on their headgear: “Trump won[,] we don’t have to do this anymore.”

And that’s the point. If we don’t want to wear Pride, we should not have to.

Now, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley wants to investigate the MLB for discriminating against Christians.

The Attorney General of Missouri has warned the MLB not to reprimand or sanction the baseball players, either.

The backlash is more than appropriate, and it’s time that more people in the public eye showed the courage to take a stand.

Those three baseball players did the righteous thing by pushing back. They weren’t just sharing a different opinion. They were countering the corrosive message and narrative of the San Francisco Giants Pride Month mantra.

The whole LGBT promotion—and the opposition to it—is not just about a difference of opinion.

It’s about the rejection of a set of behaviors and values.

The LGBT movement wants to normalize sexually destructive, biologically unhealthy, and incompatible behaviors. The LGBT movement, from the early activists pushing this agenda like the Mattachine Society and the cultural Marxists of the Frankfurt School, wanted to undermine not just the natural family but Christianity itself.

LGBT Pride was never about one group wanting to provide a place for its adherents to celebrate. Pride wanted to push aside anyone who dared disagree, let alone stand in their way. Pride has never been about live and let live.

Pride is a new religion—hence the offense from its most ardent adherents. In Canada, Pride/LGBT/The Cult of Homosexuality holds such complete sway that Christians like Bill Whatcott have endured 10 years of criminal persecution simply for passing out Gospel tracts at a Pride parade.

This month, LGBT activists are railing against the three baseball players because they are asserting their biblical values, which are inevitably—and necessarily—contrary to LGBT “values,” as if they are values.

And the differences continue.

From the moment Jesus commenced His earthly ministry to the present day, true adherents of the Christian faith have never forced their faith on others. Only a Christian society can foster tolerance, such that anyone who does not adhere to those values is welcome to not participate.

The LGBT cult has never operated that way. That clash has come to the forefront with the brouhaha over the baseball caps, and it’s time for more Christians, citizens, and other common-sense community members to accept that “Pride” is the problem and that no one should be forced to celebrate it.

The fact that it is forced shows that it’s not a natural, organic celebration. At the LA Pride Parade and Fair, it’s clear that Big Business, but more importantly, Big Government, are the giant promoters of this agenda. Without the corporate backing and the collective bullying, Pride would ride off into the sunset where it belongs and allow the natural course of things to return.

Why the force, though? LGBT activists cannot be content with everyone having a difference of opinion because in their hearts, minds—and especially their bodies—they know that homosexuality is inherently disordered and transgenderism is a mental illness.

All the posturing and pressure cannot change that, and finally, Christians in the public eye are taking a stand.

 Photo: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 12: Landen Roupp #65 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Chicago Cubs in the top of the first inning at Oracle Park on June 12, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) 

Arthur Schaper

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/06/25/christian-giants-stand-up-to-pride/

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Mamdani-backed Lander ousts incumbent Goldman, calls for ‘new humanism’ in politics - Debra Nussbaum Cohen

 

by Debra Nussbaum Cohen

“I will be one of the Jewish members of Congress most willing to stand up for Palestinian human rights,” he told the crowd at his victory party in Brooklyn.

 

Brad Lander takes to the stage after declaring victory over his opponents to win the 10th District Democratic primary in Brooklyn on June 23, 2026. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller who is Jewish, delivered a victory speech in the backyard of Gowanus, a Brooklyn beer garden, after defeating Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District on Tuesday night.

As the crowd chanted “Brad, Brad! Brad, Brad!” Lander, whom New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani supported, called for “a new humanism” in politics.

“I will be one of the Jewish members of Congress most willing to stand up for Palestinian human rights,” Lander told the crowd. “I will stand firmly against bigotry aimed at Jews.”

Lander, who pushed Goldman to say that Israel is guilty of “genocide” leading up to the election, defeated the incumbent by a wide margin. He had 55,060 votes (65.8%) to Goldman’s 28,445 (34%), with about 90% of votes counted at press time, according to the Associated Press.

Israel was a pivotal issue in the race, in which AIPAC was used, and became accepted, as a slur.

Mamdani referred to AIPAC and its supporters as “monsters” last week, and Lander, who self-identifies as a liberal Zionist, “struggled” earlier on election day to defend that claim, according to Politico.

Lander told the magazine’s Playbook that he agrees with the mayor that “a lot of negative forces are at play” in AIPAC support in U.S. races, but he “would not offer a direct defense of Mamdani’s phrasing, which Jewish leaders have said evokes antisemitic tropes, despite being repeatedly pressed,” Politico reported.

“I can only be responsible for the words I use,” Lander told the magazine. “I’m going to keep trying to simultaneously be critical when I think it’s necessary, but also build in a spirit of unity and humanity.”

“We ran this campaign like a team sport, because that’s what it takes to stand up to billionaires and bullies, and that’s what I intend to do in Congress,” Lander told supporters at the victory party.

Katie Unger, a board member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, at a victory party for Brad Lander after the latter won the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District, June 23, 2026. Photo by Debra Nussbaum Cohen.

“Our team of progressive champions has been winning across the country, and our ranks will keep growing, tonight and in the months ahead,” he said.

Lander quoted two statements from Hillel, the Jewish sage, from “Chapters of the Fathers” in both English and Hebrew at the event. “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” he said.

He also quoted Hillel’s statement, “In a place where there are no men, try to be a man.” He interpreted it as, “In a place where no one is acting human, strive to be human.”

“Because that is exactly the moment we are living in,” he told the crowd.

The anti-Israel group IfNotNow celebrated Lander’s win as “a blueprint for the future for both the Jewish community and the Democratic Party,” stated Morriah Kaplan, the group’s executive director.

“He ran a bold, unapologetically Jewish campaign that rejected pro-war lobbies like AIPAC and the endless flow of U.S. weapons to Israel,” she stated.

Sam Markstein, national political director at the Republican Jewish Coalition, referred to a Williamsburg cafe owner returning Goldman’s money and saying that his business wasn’t welcome, because he supports Israel, in a statement to JNS.

“There is only one party where supporting Israel doesn’t get you run out of office, or the coffee shop,” he told JNS. “Dan Goldman is no friend of ours, and yet he is being run out of his own party over support for the Jewish state.”

“That tells you everything about where the Democrat’s party base is,” he said.

The district covers lower Manhattan and sections of Brooklyn, including Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and Sunset Park. It is said to be between 10% to 20% percent Jewish.

Lander has for decades lived in Park Slope, where he, his wife and two young adult children are longtime members of Kolot Chayeinu, a congregation in the neighborhood that is independent of any religious denomination. It is a place, according to its website, “where doubt can be an act of faith and all hands are needed to build our community.”

Before his unsuccessful run for mayor last year, Lander served as city comptroller. Earlier in his career, he ran the Fifth Avenue Committee, a nonprofit that advances affordable housing in Brooklyn.

He enthusiastically embraced Mamdani’s endorsement and campaigned with him, writing in promotional materials that they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Mamdani has said that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York City, and his spokeswoman said that synagogues violate international law when they host pro-Israel events. (A mayoral rep later said that the spokeswoman meant events that promote sale of land in Judea and Samaria.)

Lander attended a mosque service with the Muslim mayor and recited a prayer.

Former New York City Council members Sal Albanese and Ruth Messinger at a victory party for Brad Lander, who won the Democratic nomination for New York’s 10th Congressional District, June 23, 2026. Photo by Debra Nussbaum Cohen.

His coalition-oriented approach appealed to voter Manny Fidel, a podcaster who came to the victory party.

“To me, he feels like a big-tent Democrat and doesn’t want to alienate people, which is why he opposed the Park Slope Food Coop” recent vote to boycott Israeli products, Fidel told JNS. “That’s what you want in a politician, especially in today’s divisive political time.”

Katie Unger, a board member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, attended the event as a representative of the group. She also co-founded the group’s electoral arm, the Jewish Vote, which endorsed Lander in the race and in his run for mayor against Mamdani.

The group “has been Brad’s political home for over 30 years,” Unger told JNS. Lander thanked it, among others, in his remarks.

His win in the primary “is very exciting,” Unger said. “This is our largest district with well over 1,000 members, who have been craving representation that profoundly understands that Jewish values means taxing the rich, means standing up with our neighbors against ICE and means standing up to a genocide.”

Israeli and U.S. officials and leaders of major Jewish organizations have said repeatedly that Israel is not guilty of “genocide,” and many have said that it is antisemitic to accuse Israel of such war crimes in its defensive war against Iran-backed terror proxies, including Hamas.

Ruth Messinger, a veteran Democratic activist who was a member of the New York City Council from 1978 to 1989, was at Lander’s victory party and told JNS that he “has done brilliant work, he knows the issues, is progressive and thoughtful and he’s a great organizer.”

“We need organizers in Congress on the progressive side to make positive change, especially as we get rid of Trump,” the 85-year-old, who stumped for Lander during the campaign, told JNS, before begging off in search of a beverage

The fight between Lander and Goldman—both Jewish progressive—got ugly in the campaign’s waning weeks, particularly around the issue of AIPAC and congressional funding for Israel.

The topics took up the first 15 and 20 minutes of the two televised debates they held and became a defining issue separating the two.

In his victory speech Lander addressed Goldman.

“I want to specifically praise how you responded to the toxic rhetoric that you and your staff faced over the past couple days with gratitude and grace,” he said. “That’s an approach we need more of in public life.” 

Debra Nussbaum Cohen is the New York correspondent for JNS.org. She is an award-winning journalist, who has written about Jewish issues for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and New York magazine, as well as many Jewish publications. She is also author of Celebrating Your New Jewish Daughter: Creating Jewish Ways to Welcome Baby Girls into the Covenant.

Source: https://www.jns.org/news/u-s-news/mamdani-backed-lander-ousts-incumbent-goldman-calls-for-new-humanism-in-politics

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