Democratic newcomers challenge pro-Israel status quo
Three Democratic candidates willing to challenge the bipartisan orthodoxy on Israel are likely to win seats in Congress next year.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the Israeli military’s killing of Gaza protesters a “massacre.” Ilhan Omar has referred to Israel as the “apartheid Israeli regime.” And Rashida Tlaib would be the first Democrat in Congress to explicitly reject a two-state solution in favor of a one-state solution.
Their willingness to challenge bipartisan orthodoxy has put them on a collision course with Democratic leaders as the Donald Trump administration tilts US policy ever further in favor of Israel.
“These three young, women of color have been more to the left than any previous member of Congress [on Israel],” said Joel Rubin, a former State Department liaison to Congress under the Barack Obama administration. “They will feel that potentially it’s in their political self-interest to communicate that, which is a different dynamic.”
Tlaib, who is running unopposed for a House seat in a Michigan district, is set to become the first Palestinian American congresswoman after narrowly winning her primary race earlier this year. She and Omar, a Somali refugee from Minnesota, are likely to become the first two Muslim women in Congress. Meanwhile, New York Democrat Ocasio-Cortez has closely tied herself to progressive stalwart Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has not shied away from criticizing Israel since his failed 2016 presidential campaign.
