The Media Line: Are Anti-Israel Candidates No Longer Paying a Political Price?

Are Anti-Israel Candidates No Longer Paying a Political Price?

According to the most recent Pew Research Center survey, 60% of US adults hold an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% in 2025 and 42% in 2022

By Maayan Hoffman/The Media Line

With Graham Platner’s victory in last week’s Democratic Senate primary, yet another candidate with a sharply anti-Israel platform has advanced to November’s midterm elections.

Platner, who has a Nazi tattoo and has described Israel’s military actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” is far from alone. Across the United States, a growing number of candidates with strongly anti-Israel positions are winning Democratic primaries, raising questions about whether views once considered politically damaging have become increasingly acceptable within parts of the party.

As Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, told The Media Line, “it is becoming less and less of a liability for people to express views [about Israel or the Jews] that were once considered harmful for a political candidate.”

Less than 10 years ago, it was unusual to find anti-Israel candidates, or at least candidates who were open about opposing Israel or expressing views widely viewed as hostile toward the Jewish state. The Squad, as it became known, consisted of four members: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Michigan). They were regularly criticized for remarks viewed by opponents as antisemitic or anti-Israel. At the time, they were considered an exception rather than the rule.

Fast forward to last November, when Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City, the American city with the largest Jewish population. Mamdani has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and of maintaining an apartheid system.

Today, more candidates with similar views are winning Democratic primaries for Congress and the Senate. According to Prof. Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan University and Reichman University, the trend could have significant implications for the future direction of the Democratic Party and US-Israel relations.

Gilboa said that if enough of these candidates are elected in November, they could increase anti-Israel sentiment within Congress and the Senate and potentially influence future presidential politics.

“This would be the first time in American history that we would have an anti-Israel Democratic president elected,” Gilboa told The Media Line. “And in general, if Congress is very anti-Israel, this would mean a disaster for Israel and American Jewry. I think we should really be very concerned.”

Gilboa noted that several progressive Democrats are running in primaries ahead of the midterm elections. He said these candidates are increasingly being pressed to define their positions on whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, among other issues.

He recalled a situation in January when California State Senator Scott Wiener initially declined during a debate to label the conflict in Gaza a genocide and was met with boos and heckling from the crowd. He later said he did define it as genocide amid heavy backlash.

Another candidate Gilboa highlighted is Chris Rabb, who won his Philadelphia primary and is expected to become one of the newest members of the Squad. Throughout the campaign, Rabb frequently highlighted his opposition to Israel and to AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), making both issues central themes of his bid for Congress.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim and self-described progressive Democrat, is also running. The primary is scheduled for August. El-Sayed has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and has said that he views both Israel and Hamas as “evil.”

And there are many similar candidates.

Gilboa said that American Jews, especially Democrats, are in a difficult position because they either have to vote for a candidate they view as anti-Israel, vote for a Republican who may not share their other values, or choose not to vote at all.

He argued that these races reflect a broader shift in American attitudes toward Israel. Recent polling data suggests public support for Israel has declined significantly in recent years.

According to the most recent Pew Research Center survey, 60% of US adults hold an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% in 2025 and 42% in 2022.

In addition, 59% of Americans have little or no confidence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs, the Pew report showed.

Gilboa said that whereas roughly two-thirds of Americans once viewed Israel favorably, that trend has now largely reversed.

He added that “People especially don’t like Netanyahu and equate Netanyahu with Israel and with the Israeli people and with the Israeli state, and criticism went from criticizing certain Israeli policies to rejecting Israel’s right to exist.”

Rosner agreed. He said that when President Gerald Ford decided in the 1970s to reassess relations with Israel, he received a letter from 80 senators urging him to back off.

“I don’t see 80 senators doing similar things today for Israel or in support of an Israeli position and resisting the president,” Rosner said. “I think Israel is now much more dependent on the goodwill of the commander in chief.”

The concern, Gilboa suggested, extends beyond Washington and into the American Jewish community itself.

The worst part of the trend, Gilboa said, is that many American Jews do not fully recognize these candidates as antisemitic. He pointed to polling that showed roughly 30% of American Jews voted for Mamdani, whom Gilboa considers both anti-Israel and antisemitic.

“American Jews are not even understanding that antisemitism in the United States has very little to do with Israel and much to do with being a Jew in America,” Gilboa said. “They think that if Israel disappears, then their situation is going to be improved. And that’s complete nonsense.”

Rosner said he wanted to be careful not to paint a doomsday scenario. However, he argued that action should be taken. For starters, he said, Israel must work to restore goodwill among the American public and political elite.

“If there’s a way for Israel to improve its image with the American public and with the American political elite, I think it is essential that Israel do such a thing sooner rather than later,” Rosner told The Media Line.

The other thing Israel must do, according to Rosner, is prepare for a situation in which it can no longer rely on American support to the same extent.

“I don’t think Israel is about to lose American support altogether. I don’t think Israel is going to find itself in a camp that is not part of the American sphere of influence,” Rosner said.

However, he said the country could become much less influential.

Rosner also noted that, before the midterm elections, Israel will hold its own elections. He said replacing the current government and Netanyahu could help reverse some of the country’s negative image abroad.

“We could say it is a different era for Israel, and everything you thought about Israel in the last four years, let’s forget about it and start from scratch,” Rosner said. “I’m not sure this is going to work, but at least it will provide Israel with an opportunity for a restart.”

Whether that opportunity materializes remains to be seen. But with a growing number of candidates campaigning on positions sharply critical of Israel, November’s midterm elections may offer one of the clearest indications yet of how much the political landscape has changed.