The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) argued that two of its endorsed candidates in Tuesday's primaries lost their elections over their support for Israel.
Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat lost the primary elections in New York's 10th and 13th Districts, respectively.
Espaillat lost to Mamdani-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, while Goldman lost to former city comptroller Brad Lander, who also received the mayor's endorsement.
Support for Israel became 10th District's key topic of debate
The main issue in the contest between Lander and Goldman quickly became the two candidates' views on Israel.
In the June 1 debate, Goldman claimed that "Israel is not the most important issue in this district," however, it was ultimately where he lost the Democratic primary.
While both Lander and Goldman consider themselves Zionists, Lander describes himself as a "liberal Zionist," whereas Goldman claims to be "unabashedly pro-Israel."
Lander is also a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He left the group following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, disappointed by the DSA’s participation in a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8.
“On October 8, they advertised a rally that I thought was heinous, that spoke about Hamas in ways that I just thought were vile, and I could not continue to be a member,” Lander said during a June 1 debate broadcast by Spectrum NY1.
The former comptroller's campaign emphasized his refusal to take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and claimed that the pro-Israel lobby was funding Goldman's campaign, something which he repeatedly denied.
JDCA congratulates primary winners despite ideological gaps
However, JDCA congratulated seven endorsees who won the New York primaries in their districts following Tuesday's election.
Halie Soifer, CEO of the JDCA, shared a statement congratulating their endorsed candidates on their victories across New York: "New Yorkers made their voices heard tonight, and we are pleased that seven of our endorsees won."
She added that "JDCA congratulates Reps. Suozzi, Gillen, Meng, Torres, Latimer, Riley and Mannion on their well-deserved victories. These Democrats share our Jewish values, and we are confident that they will serve as a check on Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s extreme, authoritarian agenda in Congress."
Soifer said, "JDCA extends our deep gratitude to Reps. Goldman and Espaillat for their leadership in Congress... We regret that Israel became a divisive issue in these races, especially in NY-10, and we will continue to support Democrats across the country who stand on principle in support of Jewish values, including democracy, against antisemitism, and in support of the US-Israel relationship."
Goldman became the target of a dramatic online attack over Israel policy
On Monday, just hours before the Democratic primary elections, Goldman became the target of an extreme Instagram and Facebook post by Poetica Coffee, barring him from their shops.
The chain posted on their since-deleted accounts saying they "don't serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers" after Goldman visited the cafe with his child.
The posts referenced Goldman's support for Israel and accusations of campaign funding from AIPAC, saying, "We see that you stopped by our coffee shop today for a coffee. Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice?"
They added "We issued you a refund - we don't need your money (it's probably coming from AIPAC anyways)."
The situation quickly spiraled out of control as the chain began to receive death threats via email and doubled down on antisemitic rhetoric, posting dogwhistles.
The US Justice Department said on Monday it opened a probe into Poetica Coffee following the events
Mamdani described Goldman's response to the situation as "extremely gracious," while radio host Ari Hoffman said in a post on X/Twitter that "This story proves that no matter how left you are, you can never be left enough for the radicals."