Three left-wing candidates endorsed by New York’s anti-Zionist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, won Democratic Party primaries on June 23, upending politics in the city and underscoring Israel’s rapidly declining image and standing in the United States.

In what was described as a pro-Palestinian sweep, Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier won progressive districts in races for the US House of Representatives. Significantly enough, in a bold sign of the times, they triumphed in a city with the largest Jewish population in the United States.

Like Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, Valdez and Chevalier are democratic socialists. US President Donald Trump quickly denigrated them as “communists.”

All three stand a good chance of defeating their Republican opponents in the mid-term elections in November.

Valdez, a member of New York’s State Assembly, defeated Antonio Reynoso, the president of the borough of Brooklyn. She told supporters that she was committed to “Palestinian liberation,” which is widely regarded as a code phrase for Israel’s destruction.

Chevalier, a community organizer who participated in the pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of Columbia University in 2024, defeated incumbent Adriano Espaillat. At her victory party, chants of “free Palestine” were heard.

Lander, New York City’s former comptroller, rolled over Representative Dan Goldman, a two-term Democrat from Brooklyn. Lander, a self-styled liberal Zionist who supports a two-state solution to resolve Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, accused Goldman of being insufficiently critical of Israel.

During the final days of Goldman’s campaign, the owner of a local coffee shop chain let it be known that Goldman – a critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu right-wing government – should stay away from his cafe because “genocide enablers” are not welcomed.

Although the primary issues at hand in all three districts focused on economic affordability and immigration, Israel was thrust into the mix.

Mamdani’s preferred candidates accused Israel of genocide, in a reference to its military campaign in the Gaza Strip from 2023 to 2025. And they castigated the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobbying group that Mamdani and liberals have sharply criticized.

The resounding victories by Valdez, Chevalier and Lander signify that a new........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)