{"id":23322,"date":"2026-05-27T20:32:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T20:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/goldman-and-lander-spar-hard-over-israel\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T20:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T20:32:36","slug":"goldman-and-lander-spar-hard-over-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/goldman-and-lander-spar-hard-over-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Goldman and Lander spar hard over Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Former<\/p>\n

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 57<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

BRIDGING THE GAP: <\/b>The debate over Israel is proving to be a wedge issue in the competitive primary between Rep. Dan Goldman and former city Comptroller Brad Lander. But the incumbent, who\u2019s fighting for his political life, is making the argument that he and his challenger aren\u2019t so different on the issue after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are both progressive Zionists who believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and we both support a two-state solution to bring peace to the region,\u201d Goldman said earlier today on a WNYC candidate forum<\/a>. \u201cIt’s disappointing to me that he’s using this dog whistle attack, when in reality we really do share the same core principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lander \u2014 who, like Goldman, is Jewish and a Democrat \u2014 has positioned himself as more critical of Israel than the incumbent, and some in the party\u2019s progressive wing have sided with him because of it. Lander and his supporters have repeatedly criticized Goldman for his ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel group that has become a major player in elections on both sides of the aisle \u2014 and a subject of intense debate \u2014 especially as the public has an increasingly negative view of Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Progressives have targeted AIPAC<\/a> in their messaging, a strategy Lander has also embraced. Goldman \u201ccan’t unrig the system because he’s part of this system, he takes money from Wall Street, from private equity, from crypto, from AIPAC,\u201d Lander argued at the forum.<\/p>\n

Like Goldman, some have raised concerns about the criticism of AIPAC, which has a<\/a> mixed record<\/a> in races<\/a> it gets involved in. In an interview with POLITICO<\/a>, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, one of a handful of Jewish governors, said he thinks the arguments against AIPAC spending have \u201cbeen used cynically by some to try and silence certain voices, to try and say that certain people participating in politics shouldn\u2019t count or should be viewed in a toxic way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldman, who is endorsed by AIPAC<\/a>, has said he returned the money from the organization. And four weeks out from the primary, there\u2019s no indication that AIPAC\u2019s affiliated super PAC is going to spend in it.<\/p>\n

Still, Israel remains a prominent issue in the race \u2014 no matter how much Goldman attempts to neutralize it. Last month, the incumbent rolled out an ad<\/a> denouncing President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Iran.<\/p>\n

Public polling in the district, which covers parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, has been scarce. But a recent Emerson College survey<\/a> found Lander leading Goldman by more than 30 points. Lander is endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2014 whom Goldman did not support during the mayoral election \u2014 the Working Families Party and a slew of progressive officials and organizations. Goldman has the backing of Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, along with more than a dozen unions. Goldman also recently received the support<\/a> of Hasidic leaders from Brooklyn\u2019s Borough Park enclave.<\/p>\n

As for Goldman and Lander\u2019s similarities on Israel, the challenger pushed back, pointing to Goldman having \u201cvoted for every single U.S. military aid package to Israel.\u201d In a back-and forth during the forum about the boycott, divest and sanctions movement \u2014 which both Goldman and Lander said they do not support \u2014 Goldman said he agrees with Lander that \u201cIsraelis aren’t going to be safe until Palestinians are free,\u201d to which the challenger retorted: \u201cYou don\u2019t do anything to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in the vision of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, but it’s not acting consistently with Jewish or democratic values right now, and it can’t while it keeps occupying the West Bank and Gaza, and imposing apartheid on Palestinians,\u201d Lander said. \u201cThe differences here are strong. If people want someone who is really going to fight to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, to make it so that Jewish New Yorkers and Muslim New Yorkers can work together instead of be divided from each other, and try to address the failures of U.S. foreign policy, the choice is clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the forum focused on Israel. When asked if he would vote for the \u201cBlock the Bombs Act,\u201d which would prohibit the sale or transfer of military equipment to Israel until the country guarantees compliance with international law, Goldman said it is \u201cnot going to come to a vote, because it was written last summer as an effort to support a ceasefire, which was reached in October, and our laws enforce international human rights law already.\u201d When pressed again, he said the legislation has \u201cbeen overtaken by events, and I think there are other issues with \u2018Block the Bombs\u2019\u201d but also that we need to “aggressively enforce international law against Bibi Netanyahu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lander has called Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza a \u201cgenocide.\u201d Goldman said today it\u2019s \u201creally important that we move away from labels and terminology, especially for legal terms, and focus on how we can arrive at a two-state peaceful solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incumbent also expressed regret for voting to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in 2023 over her criticism of Israel<\/a>, saying \u201cthere are better ways of dealing with that that I wish I had pursued\u201d and \u201cit was a very emotional time and sometimes emotion gets the best of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an incredibly, incredibly emotional issue right now for very, very many people, and what I’m worried about is that it is dividing all of us; it is dividing Muslims and Jews, it is dividing Jews,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThis is part of the reason why I disagree a little bit about what the critical issues are in this race. The critical issues are the ones facing the voters, and those are not necessarily what’s going on 6,000 miles away, it’s what’s going on at their kitchen tables.\u201d \u2014<\/i> Madison Fernandez<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

From the Capitol<\/h3>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

REDISTRICTING REDUX<\/b>: New York Democrats are expected to introduce bills by Friday to pave the way for new congressional lines in 2028, according to four people familiar with the talks.<\/p>\n

Officials are weighing two constitutional amendments \u2014 one that would allow some minor tweaks, and another that would permit an aggressive Democratic gerrymander, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door conversations.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s cumbersome process to change the state constitution restricts Democrats from redrawing House boundaries in time for the 2026 midterm elections. But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Brooklyn Democrat, has made his home state\u2019s House lines part of a broader, longer-term strategy to pick up seats in the closely divided chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a potentially existential matter for our democracy in the \u201828 elections,\u201d said Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a Democratic House candidate who previously proposed an amendment to allow for mid-decade redistricting. \u201cThere\u2019s a broad understanding that in the redistricting arms race New York can\u2019t be on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more from Blue Light News Bill Mahoney and Nick Reisman.<\/i><\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

HOCHUL BACKS ALT ROCK BAND:<\/b> The governor\u2019s press shop sent out a release today that heaped effusive and exuberant praise on a \u201890s rock band.<\/p>\n

The missive \u2014 uncharacteristic of the staid memos typically dispatched by the gov\u2019s press shop \u2014 was sent to promote a state-sponsored watch party on Long Island for the U.S. vs. Paraguay World Cup match on June 12, which will feature a pregame concert from Third Eye Blind, or 3EB.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipation in the older, untouchable realm of nervous star-making could color a band’s identity,\u201d the governor\u2019s office said. \u201cIn the case of 3EB, it often blurred the perception of their brilliant musical creations.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear if the band behind hits like “Semi-Charmed Life” and “Jumper,\u201d which formed in San Francisco, feel the same way about the governor. In 2016, 3EB made headlines when their lead singer said he \u201crepudiates\u201d the Republican party and called Donald Trump\u2019s then-presidential campaign deplorable. But there\u2019s no record of him expressing similar passion \u2014 either in support or opposition \u2014 for New York\u2019s 57th governor.<\/p>\n

\u201c3EB won wide success during a tumultuous group of years when the major-label recording industry was finally losing its grip on an enterprise that for decades it had dominated with steely efficiency,\u201d Hochul\u2019s office also said. \u201c3EB now write, tour, record, and communicate in a fluid new world where their music continues to evolve\u202fnaturally. Their exchange with their audience is unfiltered and being from the hub of tech, they are using it to develop a closer connection with their audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps 3EB can release an updated version of its 2000 single \u201c10 Days Late\u201d to inspire lawmakers as they scramble to wrap up the nearly two-month late state budget. \u2014 Jason Beeferman<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

SHARPE SUBMITS: <\/b>Libertarian Larry Sharpe has filed to run for the \u201cCoalition Party\u201d in this year\u2019s gubernatorial campaign, making him the only candidate seeking to run without major party support.<\/p>\n

The odds are long he\u2019ll actually make the ballot \u2014 a reality he\u2019s more than willing to concede.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter, we\u2019re never going to make it. We\u2019re going to be in lawsuits,\u201d Sharpe said when asked how many signatures he submitted.<\/p>\n

One individual familiar with the filing said he believes Sharpe submitted 1,600 of the required 45,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

Third parties have become all but extinct in major races in New York since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo hiked the signature threshold from 15,000 in 2019. \u201cBobby Kennedy Jr. spent a million dollars,\u201d Sharpe said of the now-health secretary\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign. \u201cHe\u2019s a fucking Kennedy and he couldn\u2019t get on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only other candidate to file for an additional ballot line in November was Bruce Blakeman, who submitted to add the \u201cVote Affordable\u201d line to the Republican and Conservative ones he\u2019s already running under. His campaign told the New York Post<\/a> he submitted 66,345 signatures \u2014 not quite the number most experts say is needed to make a candidate immune from challenges. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

FROM CITY HALL<\/h3>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

RAISING HELL: <\/b>City Council member Shahana Hanif is under fire from critics for declaring on social media last night that two fellow Muslim women critical of Mayor Zohran Mamdani should be \u201ccondemned to Jahannam,\u201d the Islamic concept of hell.<\/p>\n

But Hanif, the first Muslim woman elected to the Council, says the criticism against her is overblown \u2014 and potentially bigoted.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be serious: \u2018Go to hell\u2019 is a pretty common expression of frustration or disappointment \u2026 but the moment Arabic enters the conversation, suddenly people will act like I said something far more sinister,\u201d Hanif told Playbook today.<\/p>\n

Hanif delivered the broadside in an X post<\/a> last night criticizing the two women, Anila Ali and Zeba Zebunnesa, for participating in a protest held outside Gracie Mansion to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Mamdani from office over the claim that he\u2019s not doing enough to combat antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay Allah condemn you to Jahannam,\u201d Hanif wrote in the post, which was responding to a message from Ali saying she and Zebunnesa were on their way to the Gracie demonstration.<\/p>\n

Ali and Zebunnesa are organizers with a group called American Muslim & Multifaith Women\u2019s Empowerment Council.<\/p>\n

In the Quran, Jahannam is portrayed as a place of divine justice where sinners are sent to face punishment in the afterlife. Broken into seven descending levels reserved for different groups of sinners, Jahannam is considered the Islamic equivalent of hell, with punishments becoming more extreme the deeper one goes.<\/p>\n

Elchanan Poupko, a rabbi and social media commentator, said Hanif crossed \u201ca red line\u201d with her tweet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is @ShahanaFromBK, an elected official, using religion for targeted harassment against a Muslim woman @anilaali, for exercising her constitutional rights protesting @ZohranKMamdani????\u201d Poupko wrote<\/a> on X. \u201cThis is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few hundred people participated in the protest outside Gracie Mansion last night, though no elected officials or mainstream Jewish groups were billed as being in attendance.<\/p>\n

The event featured people brandishing Israeli flags and demanding that Mamdani, a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights, do more to combat antisemitism in New York. The event also featured more extreme, bigoted elements, including people shouting that Mamdani, an American citizen born in Uganda, should be deported.<\/p>\n

Hanif pointed to the fact that rhetoric like that played out at the protest in justifying her Jahannam jab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can and will criticize MAGA influencers joining a MAGA hate rally full of conspiratorial rhetoric and f-bombs,\u201d Hanif said. \u2014 Chris Sommerfeldt\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n

\u2014 TARGETING GAP:<\/b> A database of more than 1,200 lawsuits shows more than 93 percent of immigration enforcement arrests in New York and New Jersey targeted Latinos, despite the fact that they make up only 66 percent of immigrants without legal status. (THE CITY<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 NO PLAYING AROUND:<\/b> New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a joint investigation into FIFA\u2019s ticket selling practices. (POLITICO<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u2018I WAS HURT\u2019:<\/b> New York\u2019s Legislature is considering bills to amend policies for imprisoned pregnant women after one gave birth while handcuffed in a Brooklyn courtroom. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. <\/b>Read it here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 57 BRIDGING THE GAP: The debate over Israel is proving to be a wedge issue in the competitive primary between Rep. Dan Goldman and former city Comptroller Brad Lander. But the incumbent, who\u2019s fighting for his political life, is making the argument that he and his challenger aren\u2019t so different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}