Click here to read the full article in Haaretz
By Etan Nechin
NEW YORK – Leaders of Jewish progressive groups celebrated Wednesday after several progressive candidates won Democratic Party nominations in New York City on Tuesday in primary races marked by debates shaped by a rejection of unconditional U.S. support for Israel and AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby group.
However, reactions from more mainstream groups were muted.
Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won their respective races, with Avila Chevalier and Lander defeating incumbents.
Across Tuesday's congressional, state and city primaries, nowhere was that rejection clearer than in New York's 10th Congressional District, where Lander and U.S. Representative Dan Goldman, both Jewish Democrats, faced off over foreign policy, with Lander making Israel a wedge issue.
Lander won by more than 30 percentage points in a district covering downtown Manhattan and western Brooklyn, including Park Slope, which has a sizable Jewish population and was at the center of controversy over a boycott of Israeli products by its iconic food co-op.
The progressive group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice celebrated Lander's victory. Audrey Sasson, who leads the group, said the race in NY-10 was "about more than a single seat in Congress." The JFREJ executive director said the race was a fight for the future of the Democratic Party and the Jewish community.
"It was a fight between an out-of-touch establishment and a Jewish left with a real vision for our community that is grounded in human rights and dignity for all," she said.
IfNotNow, a Jewish activist group that critiques Israel through a progressive Jewish lens, said Lander's victory was "a blueprint for the future for both the Jewish community and the Democratic Party."
"His vision won resoundingly," the group's executive director, Morriah Kaplan, told Haaretz. "He ran a bold, unapologetically Jewish campaign that rejected pro-war lobbies such as AIPAC and the endless flow of U.S. weapons to Israel," she added.
Kaplan praised Lander's call for "shared safety," a central message of his campaign. "That means fighting fascism, building solidarity and supporting freedom and dignity for Palestinians and Israelis," she said.