Why is an LGBTQ+ group asking candidates about Israel?
New York’s Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club says the questions on the Middle East are not litmus tests
A voter casts a ballot on Feb. 13, 2024. Photo by Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh February 15, 2024
A prominent pro-LGBTQ+ Democratic club in New York City is for the first time including questioning political candidates about Israel and Gaza as it considers who should get its endorsement in local races, a reflection of growing interest in how even local candidates stand on the quagmire in the Middle East.
Many New York City candidates covet the backing of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, which said the additional questions are not litmus tests. They include whether candidates support “an immediate ceasefire;” whether Congress should “condition further aid to Israel;” and “what conditions should we stress that Israel abides by.”
In a questionnaire posted online last month, the group asks 34 questions that address incarceration, abortion, antisemitism and Islamophobia, whether Columbus Circle in Manhattan should be renamed and other issues. Those concerning Israel are the only ones that deal with foreign policy.
Allen Roskoff, the president of the club, said they are “relevant” in the current political discourse. “What happened in Israel is different this year than it’s ever been in the past,” he said. “There is a lot of frustration on both sides.”
The club was formed in 2004 and named after Owles, the first openly gay candidate for political office in New York City. It endorsed 17 congressional candidates in 2022, including pro-Israel incumbents Jerry Nadler, Grace Meng, Carlyon Maloney, Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones.
Nadler, the informal dean of the Jewish Caucus, is so far the only federal politician to receive the group’s endorsement this election cycle, but he did not answer the questions about a ceasefire and aid to Israel. Robert Gottheim, the congressman’s district chief of staff, said that while Nadler’s views are straightforward — he has called for humanitarian pauses to release hostages, but opposes calls for a permanent ceasefire — his views on the subject could not be distilled in the questionnaire.
The group does not require yes or no answers, however, and provides room for candidates to elaborate. But Gottheim said Nadler gave club members a detailed answer in a follow-up virtual candidate interview before receiving the endorsement.
“Whether somebody is for or against the ceasefire, obviously it’s not a litmus test because we endorsed Nadler,” said Roskoff.
Israel in the streets of New York
Pressure on President Joe Biden to call for a permanent ceasefire has been building on the Democratic party’s progressive flank for months. Sympathy for Palestinians has also risen — particularly among younger Democrats and people of color — as the death toll mounts in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, a response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. A recent Siena Research poll of 807 New York State voters showed that while Democrats are largely divided on additional military aid to Israel (with 45% favoring and 43% opposing), a majority of New York City residents, liberals and young voters stand against it.
Last week, dozens of Jewish New Yorkers were arrested after attempting to block President Biden’s motorcade as it passed through the Upper East Side of Manhattan, headed toward campaign fundraisers. Their signs called the war in Gaza a genocide and urged the president to call for a ceasefire.
A survey by the Arab American Institute of 1,000 likely American voters showed that 51% — including 61% of Democrats — are more inclined to support a member of Congress who backs a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. And a majority of Democrats and independents, 54%, and young voters, 52%, said they were less likely to support a politician who opposes a ceasefire.
But in the first test of the 2024 cycle on Tuesday, in the special election on Long Island and Queens, New York, to replace expelled Republican Rep. George Santos, U.S. policy toward Israel didn’t seem a significant factor. Former Congressman Tom Suozzi, a Democrat and staunch supporter of Israel who opposes calls for a ceasefire, beat his Republican rival, a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces and resolute defender of Israel. Republicans and Democrats across the nation watched the swing district contest closely, as a possible indicator of which party will take the White House and majorities in Congress in November.
“We are thrilled that Suozzi won,” Roskoff said, “and he’s very hawkish on Israel. And I understand that.” The club endorsed him in his 2020 reelection bid.
Mark Mellman, head of the Democratic Majority for Israel, said Suozzi’s victory proved that “there is upside to be to be gained by running as a proud, unabashedly pro-Israel candidate.”
Mellman said he’d advise candidates DMFI endorses to respond “honestly in a pro-Israel fashion” to queries regarding the Jewish state. “Providing anti-Israel answers is both morally wrong and politically foolish,” he said.
Over the course of a campaign, candidates seeking endorsements will fill out questionnaires from political clubs, unions and neighborhood organizations in hopes that these groups will encourage their members to support them. Candidates tout endorsements in their campaign ads and stump speeches.
The Democratic Socialists of America came under fire in 2021 for requiring candidates who sought their endorsement to pledge not to travel to Israel on an educational trip if elected. The DSA later clarified that its pledge referred specifically to annual trips sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council.
J Street, the self-described pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby, recently rescinded its endorsement of New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for “singling out” Israel for blame in the war in Gaza and accusing it of genocide.
Rejecting AIPAC
The Owles club also asks candidates whether they would reject funds from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s PAC, which they describe as “Trump-supporting AIPAC.” AIPAC, in 2022 began to endorse congressional candidates, releasing a list of 365 mostly Democratic and Republican incumbents. The move came in for fierce criticism because the list included more than 100 Republicans who refused to certify the 2020 presidential election.
Last year, activists affiliated with IfNotNow, a group opposed to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, launched a campaign to pressure Democratic members of Congress to refuse endorsements and financial contributions from AIPAC.
IfNotNow is particularly interested in swaying, among New York candidates, Nadler, and Dan Goldman, a freshman Democrat who represents Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. Both congressmen were backed by AIPAC in the last election cycle. But while Nadler was also endorsed by J Street, Goldman benefited from a large AIPAC contribution — $350,000 — that went to a local super PAC opposing one of his progressive competitors in the primary. Goldman has already been endorsed by AIPAC in the 2024 cycle.
AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittman said that the organization is “strongly bipartisan” and supports both Democratic and Republican candidates. “In fact, AIPAC-PAC is the largest PAC contributor to Democratic candidates,” he said.
The questionnaire also inquires about candidates’ position on November’s censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American House member, for her recent comments on Israel. A group of 22 Democrats, including Goldman, joined their Republican House counterparts in voting in favor. Nadler opposed the censure, arguing that it undermines the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech.
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