Mamdani stood firm in his support of Gaza. The Democratic party could learn from him

[BeyondGeography]

As the ballots were counted on Wednesday in the Democratic primary election for mayor in New York City, a young candidate with little national name recognition, Zohran Mamdani, stood atop a slate of candidates including the runner-up, and favorite, Andrew Cuomo. There are several reasons why Mamdani was able to pull off this remarkable victory, putting him on track to compete favorably in the mayoral election in November, and many of them have implications for elections outside New York City.

But one area where the contrast between the candidates could not be clearer was on the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Mamdani, for his part, stood with protesters, demanded the release of Mahmoud Khalil, and called out Israel’s war crimes. Mamdani even pledged he’d have the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, an indicted war criminal, arrested if he came to New York City while he was mayor. Cuomo, on the other hand, volunteered to be part of Netanyahu’s legal defense team before the international criminal court.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza has tanked already waning support for Israel in the US, particularly among Democrats. Polls show that for the first time, fewer than 50% of Americans have a favorable view of Israel. And while there is some movement among Republicans in this direction, the biggest driver of this trend is among independents and, especially, Democrats. Democrats sympathize with Palestinians over Israelis by a 3-to-1 margin. That is a massive gap and it also speaks to one of the most important ways a candidate’s politics on Gaza affects the way they are perceived by the electorate.

Democrats increasingly feel their party leaders are old and out of touch with where Democratic voters are. About 62% of Democrats say their party needs new leaders. Few issues highlight how out of touch with their party leaders are than the issue of Palestine. While opinion polls are clear and consistent about Democratic voters’ disgust with Israeli policies toward Palestinians, Democratic party leaders like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are stalwart defenders of Israel. Increasingly, a candidate’s politics on Gaza is a litmus test for authenticity and whether the candidate actually cares to represent the voters. Cuomo was not interested in representing voters on this issue, he was content instead to accept major contributions from billionaire backers of Donald Trump and Israel like Bill Ackman.

More at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/26/zohran-mamdani-mayoral-race-gaza?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Polling data on trends in Democratic attitudes toward Israel and Palestinians:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/657404/less-half-sympathetic-toward-israelis.aspx