Four months out from the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, a sharp internal rift over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has emerged as a defining fracture for the Democratic Party, one that could reshape the party’s leadership and policy trajectory ahead of November’s general election contests.
Recent results from 2026 Democratic primary elections, which select the party’s general election candidates, have made clear that attitudes toward Israel have become a wedge issue pitting the party’s progressive base against its long-standing establishment leadership. No race has highlighted this divide more clearly than last week’s contest for New York City’s 10th Congressional District, where two liberal, Jewish candidates who both opposed Donald Trump’s political agenda and identified as Zionist ran on starkly different platforms about Israel.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, the progressive candidate in the race, labeled Israel’s military operation in Gaza a genocide, pledged to oppose new U.S. military funding for Israel, and refused to accept any campaign donations from the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). His opponent, incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman, had also criticized the Israeli government and opposed West Bank settlement expansion, but stopped short of describing the Gaza campaign as genocide and had previously accepted AIPAC contributions. Goldman centered his campaign on addressing rising antisemitism and secured endorsements from prominent Orthodox Jewish community leaders, a key voting bloc in the district.
When ballots were counted, Lander’s unapologetic criticism of Israel secured him a landslide victory over Goldman. The win came as part of a broader pattern: in two other New York City Democratic primaries, progressive candidates endorsed by outspoken Israel-critic and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani all defeated more moderate opponents who took softer stances on the issue. These results signal a growing schism that is expected to ripple through upcoming high-stakes contests, including August’s closely watched Democratic Senate primary in Michigan.
Because New York’s congressional districts are heavily Democratic, primary victors like Lander are nearly guaranteed to win general election seats in Congress. Once in Washington, their presence is expected to force more urgent, contentious policy debates over U.S. military funding for Israel and push the entire Democratic Party to re-evaluate its long-standing messaging on Israel and the Gaza conflict.
“What we’re seeing is that in much of the Democratic base – especially in urban, progressive, young demographics – public criticism of Israel acts as a signal that a candidate rejects the status quo and is going to Washington to deliver change,” explained Tali DeGroot, vice president of political and digital strategy at J-Street, a group that supports Israel’s right to exist but has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s military actions in Gaza. As American public opinion shifts, DeGroot noted, Democratic voters “want to see elected officials engage with nuance on this complicated issue.”
While J-Street endorsed Goldman, it took the unusual step of also listing Lander as an approved candidate for voter consideration. Lander additionally secured the backing of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), a left-leaning social justice group that has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to U.S. weapons sales to Israel.
At Brooklyn polling places on primary day, Lander voters repeatedly cited his stance on Israel and endorsement from Mamdani as the top factors driving their support. Many argued that the Democratic Party’s national leadership has lost touch with the base’s shifting views on the conflict.
“I learned a lot watching a Jewish leader work through his relationship to Zionism, to Israel, and to opposing genocide in Gaza,” said Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, a Park Slope, Brooklyn voter who supported Lander. “Watching his journey has been really powerful to me, and I appreciate a leader who learns in public.” Ireland added that she believes top congressional Democrats Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, and Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader – both New York delegates who have broadly supported Israel – are out of step with the views of many of their own constituents.
The current conversation around Israel is rooted in the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war: Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, attack led by Hamas, which killed roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages. Since the campaign began, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health – whose casualty figures are considered reliable by the United Nations – reports that at least 73,058 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, including more than 21,280 children. Multiple international, Israeli human rights groups, independent UN experts, and scholars have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, claims Israel has strongly denied. Last week, a three-member UN-appointed commission of inquiry released a report concluding that Israeli authorities deliberately targeted Palestinian children and committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The panel does not officially represent the UN, but its findings amplified existing global criticism. Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the report as “libellous propaganda.”
New polling confirms that U.S. public opinion of Israel has shifted dramatically over the past year. An April Pew Research Center survey found that 60% of all U.S. adults hold an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% in 2025. Fully 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters now view Israel unfavorably, an 11-point increase from 2025. The shift has also touched the Republican Party: more than half of Republicans under 50 now hold an unfavorable view of Israel, and former President Trump has publicly expressed frustration with Netanyahu, with the party’s “America First” isolationist wing openly criticizing the U.S.-Israel alliance.
Dina Smeltz, managing director of public opinion and foreign policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, noted that American public opinion initially leaned heavily toward Israel after the October 7 attack. “But then as it retaliated against those attacks and carried out a lot of military action in Gaza that resulted in a big humanitarian crisis, attitudes toward Israel have fallen quite a bit,” Smeltz explained.
As the Democratic base’s views shift, some voters and Jewish organizations have expressed concern over Israel becoming a polarizing partisan issue. Haile Soifer, CEO of the Democratic Jewish Council of America, called it “regret that Israel became a divisive issue in these races, especially in NY-10.”
Rob Geaillig, a Brooklyn resident who voted for Goldman, said he believed Lander was “far too liberal for this area.” Though a registered Democrat, Geaillig voted for Trump in 2024, citing discomfort with how far left the Democratic Party has shifted on the issue of Israel. It is important to note that not all pro-Israel Democratic incumbents lost in last week’s primaries: several New York incumbents who supported Israel won their renomination contests.
Mainstream Democratic leaders, including Schumer and Jeffries, have walked a careful middle path: they have criticized Netanyahu’s leadership and the scale of Israel’s military action in Gaza, while continuing to support broad U.S. military and diplomatic backing for Israel. Still, there are clear signs the congressional Democratic caucus is shifting toward a harder line on Israel. In April, 40 Democratic senators supported a symbolic motion to express congressional disapproval of proposed new military sales to Israel; only seven Senate Democrats, including Schumer, joined Republicans to block the motion. While non-binding, the vote exposed widespread growing frustration among Democratic lawmakers with the ongoing military campaign.
Sam Geisler, a 37-year-old Lander voter, warned that any Democratic incumbent who continues to approve military aid for Israel should expect to face tough primary challenges in upcoming cycles. “We’ll see if the national party learns. I don’t have a whole lot of faith,” Geisler said. “They’re going to learn when they keep getting voted out.”