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By Ben Samuels
WASHINGTON – The upcoming battle between New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman and challenger George Latimer is one of the most high-stakes primaries of recent years, serving as the biggest litmus test yet on internal Democratic politics on post-October 7 Israel.
Bowman has drawn the ire of pro-Israel organizations after significantly stepping up his criticism of Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Most recently, following Israel's May 26 strike on two senior Hamas members in Rafah that killed at least 40 Palestinians in a tent encampment, he called for an end to all weapons sales to Israel. "How many children have to die? We're past the red line. It's time to stop sending military aid to Israel. Not one more dime," he said. (Latimer has yet to comment on the strike.)
His ascendance in a heavily Jewish district (including more than half of Westchester County and part of the Bronx) set the stage for pro-Israel groups to move from decades of focusing exclusively on lobbying to funding elections. They will try to prove their involvement in local elections can be effective in this June 25 race.
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Bowman's second term began with him taking a decidedly more active role regarding Israel, notably leading a bicameral effort in April 2023 urging the Biden administration to fundamentally alter its approach. Already displeased with Bowman, pro-Israel advocates in the district bolstered their efforts at finding a challenger after he publicly boycotted Israeli President Isaac Herzog's address to a joint session of Congress last July.
Activists quickly identified Latimer, the county executive of Westchester County who has served in the state legislature, as the most likely and viable candidate. Despite public and private overtures to run against Bowman, starting last summer, Latimer for months avoided entering the fray.
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Latimer embraced AIPAC's support by participating in a behind-closed-doors event at the group's annual leadership summit in Maryland. Progressives derided Latimer's participation at the AIPAC event as disqualifying.
Alicia Singham Goodwin, political director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, said: "Latimer's closed-door event with Republican megadonors not only shows a lack of transparency, it also shows a lack of leadership.
"Instead of joining Sen. [Chuck] Schumer in identifying [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu as an obstacle to peace," she said, referring to the Senate majority leader's landmark call for new Israeli elections, "Latimer chose to appear on the same stage as Netanyahu."