JTA — The New York Democratic primaries were a big coming-out for the party’s leftmost flank — and a wake-up call for Jews in the city and beyond.

As a series of congressional candidates backed by progressive anti-Zionist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani notched victories, including over two pro-Israel incumbents, the future for the party’s relationship with Israel has never seemed more in question. With one of those winners, Brad Lander, being Jewish, left-wing Jews are also celebrating a new champion and a boost in electoral power.

At the same time, a new, smaller crop of pro-Israel victors could seek to carry the mantle for the liberal Jewish vote, while Jewish establishment leaders are navigating the changing political landscape.

Here are a few big Jewish takeaways from Tuesday night:

1: Are Jewish centers of power shifting?

Establishment Jewish figures and their allies were reading the tea leaves of the results on Wednesday as voters seemed to shift further away from pro-Israel positions. Some downplayed any broader significance.

“Last night’s primaries indicate that DSA, Mamdani-backed candidates can win in different areas of New York City,” Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “But I don’t think that those same candidates could win anywhere else.”

Soifer’s pro-Israel group had offered a rare primary endorsement to Rep. Dan Goldman, who was routed by former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. She added, “We know that Jewish voters feel very conflicted about the issue of Israel and the role that it’s now playing in Democratic politics.”

She demurred on whether her organization could find a pathway to work with Lander, saying he “chose to use Israel as a wedge issue in this election, dividing Jewish voters.” In contrast to Goldman’s clearer support for Israel, Lander has called for ending aid to Israeli defense systems, including the Iron Dome, a stance Soifer specifically noted would be a roadblock to collaboration. Lander describes himself as a liberal Zionist.

Other Jewish leaders were sounding notes of alarm Wednesday.

“We are deeply concerned by public leaders who vilify Jews and others who support Israel, including many who also strive for peace, support Palestinian rights, and mourn the suffering of innocent civilians,” Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center, said in a statement. “We reject the false choice between Jewish safety and Palestinian dignity. We will work with leaders across political and ideological lines when they share our values, and we will speak out forcefully when their words or actions undermine Jewish safety, demonize supporters of Israel, or deny Israel’s right to exist and thrive in security.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose own endorsed candidates mostly lost on Tuesday, congratulated Lander in an interview with NY1 and gave a “salute” to Goldman. The Brooklyn lawmaker also congratulated pro-Israel centrist Democrat Cait Conley (whom he did endorse) for her win in a suburban district held by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler that Jeffries hopes to flip.

A spokesperson for Democratic pro-Israel Rep. Ritchie Torres, who’d chased off a would-be pro-Palestinian primary challenger before the race got underway, declined to comment to JTA on what the race’s results mean for Jewish leaders.

“I think we’re in a moment of a lot of uprooting of conventional beliefs and conventional norms,” Goldman told the media following his loss. Contrasting Democrats with “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” he added, “The more internal division and divisiveness, internal fighting that we have, means that they’re going to continue to push forward with their agenda.”

Some Jewish pundits were more explicit about what they saw as the political threat. David Frum, a center-right columnist for The Atlantic, said before results came in that the primaries were a “test of power of Mayor Mamdani’s anti-Jewish messaging.”

Does this leave Jewish progressives in a moment of confusion — or ascension? New York Jewish Agenda, a left-leaning Jewish advocacy group whose previous director was appointed as........

© The Times of Israel