Exclusive | Dem leader, experts admit what fueled NYC’s socialist surge — and it wasn’t ‘affordability’ pledge
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist cronies who swept last week’s Democratic primaries boasted about an affordability message — but critics say it was an anti-Israel furor that is fueling the party’s swing to the left.
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State Democratic Party Jay Jacobs admitted voters’ feelings on Israel helped propel Mamdani buddies to three House primary victories, including firebrand Darializa Avila Chevalier and former city Comptroller Brad Lander who upset incumbent Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman, respectively.
Both Espaillat and Goldman backed the Jewish state — which may have motivated young activist liberals with pro-Palestinian views who have staunchly opposed Israel military action in Gaza.
“Yes. I do think the Israel-Palestinian issue had an impact in the election,” Jacobs told The Post on Sunday. “It hurt establishment Democrats.
“There are people who may have voted against Espaillat and Goldman because of it,” he added. “It was important to the activists who came out and voted.”
The pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campaign was a “more important issue for those who came out and voted” in low-turnout primary elections that saw only about 17% of party voters citywide participate, Jacobs said.
The national civil rights group, the Anti-Defamation League, blasted the insurgency as riding a wave of antisemitic sentiment to wins in the Big Apple, the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
“On Tuesday night in New York City, a movement built on antisemitic rhetoric won three congressional primaries,” the ADL said in a statement on X.
The statement noted that as Mamdani moved through the jubilant crowd at a DSA victory party on the night of the primaries, attendees chanted “From the River to the Sea,” the code viewed as a call to wipe out Israel.
“We’re witnessing candidates succeed not in spite of their demonizing rhetoric against the Jewish community and the Jewish state, but because of it,” the ADL said.
“When leaders cheer slogans that dehumanize Jews, it does not stay at a victory party. It bleeds into schools, neighborhoods and daily life, putting Jewish families, children and communities at risk.”
The Mamdani-backed House candidates were part of a push to the left of the party that came alongside wins by legislature candidates handpicked by the Democratic Socialists of America.
The results were compared to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in the 2018 elections and insiders and experts already say they could shift power in the state Democratic Party and reshape policy priorities for years to come.
Chevalier came under intense scrutiny during the campaign but still defeated five-term incumbent Espaillat in a close contest in the 13th House District, which covers Harlem/Washington Heights and parts of the Bronx.
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She had attended an anti-Israeli rally in Times Square one day after Hamas’ horrific terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. At the rally, demonstrators torched the Israeli flag and flashed swastikas.
Chevalier centered her platform on halting US military aid to Israel and pushing for full divestment from the Jewish state.
DSA candidate Valdez, who is now a state Assembly member, won an open seat in Brooklyn-Queens House District 7 by defeating Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, the favored candidate of retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez.
Meanwhile, Lander — who is Jewish and a former DSA member, claimed Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, He easily defeated two-term incumbent Goldman in a landslide.
Pollsters have noted a dramatic shift in the Democratic Party against Israel after the Gaza war.
“The voters who turned out were anti-Israel. The people who were fired up were anti-Israel and there was no counter to that,” said pollster Bradley Honan of the Honan Strategy Group.
A Gallup poll released in February found that more than half of Democrats in the US are anti-Israel — the first time a majority of members of a major political party had a negative opinion of the Jewish state. The question has been asked by the poll since 1989.
Only 33% of Dems surveyed by Gallup said they had a favorable view of Israel, while a whopping 60% viewed the Jewish State unfavorably and 4% had no opinion.
Jacobs acknowledged that support of Israel is a divisive issue within the party, but it has also become more so in the Republican Party.
He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct during the war in Gaza has galvanized the anti-Israel movement.
Jacobs, who is pro-Israel, believes the criticism is warranted nut he also said the pro-Palestinian, Israel haters are spreading falsehoods that need to be challenged.
“Saying Israel is committing genocide is wrong. It’s war,” Jacobs said.
He also said Israel is not an “apartheid” country as critics claim, saying minority Arab residents have rights like other citizens.
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