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Jamaal Bowman faces primary challenge after drawing fire from Jewish constituents over Israel criticism
(New York Jewish Week) — George Latimer, the Westchester County executive, on Wednesday announced a Democratic primary challenge against Rep. Jamaal Bowman, after the congressman repeatedly sparked controversy over his approach to the Israel-Hamas war.
Latimer made the announcement following a visit to Israel late last month, and after local Jewish leaders urged him to mount the primary challenge against Bowman for the 16th congressional district, which is located north of New York City and covers a small part of the Bronx.
Bowman, a progressive, had strained ties with some Jewish constituents before Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. But his decision to join just a handful of fellow Democrats in Congress in calling for a ceasefire on Oct. 16 inflamed tensions further.
A video released by Latimer’s campaign on Wednesday touched on Israel, with the challenger decrying Bowman for the recent controversies.
“Unfortunately, instead of working for us, our congressman is making news for all the wrong reasons,” Latimer says in the video, as the footage shows a news clip about Bowman voting against a resolution backing Israel and condemning the Oct. 7 attack.
The campaign video mainly focused on other issues, such as infrastructure, property taxes and the environment, and criticized Bowman for his attention-grabbing statements.
“It’s time for Washington to stop bickering and start working for us. Let’s deliver real progressive results, not rhetoric,” Latimer said.
These are difficult times. NYers need a Congressmember who will listen to every voice, not just those who agree with him, & who will deliver on the issues that matter.
I’m running for Congress because I know we need new leadership — and I’m ready to deliver. #ResultsNotRhetoric pic.twitter.com/N9kTFYLTh9
— George Latimer (@LatimerforNY) December 6, 2023
The war has divided Democrats, with progressives voicing criticism for Israel’s counteroffensive and demanding a ceasefire, in opposition to the Biden administration and more centrist party members, who are more supportive of the Jewish state. Bowman is a member of the progressive camp, while Latimer is among the centrists. The 16th district is home to a significant Jewish population and is around half Black and Latino.
Latimer visited Israel on a trip organized by the Westchester Jewish Council. The popular county executive visited Kfar Aza, a community ravaged during the Oct. 7 attack; visited Hamas victims at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center; spoke with families of hostages; and met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Westchester Jewish Council said in a statement after the visit.
Nine days after the Hamas attack, more than two dozen rabbis in the congressional district wrote a letter to Latimer urging him to challenge Bowman due to the incumbent’s “effort to erode support for Israel on Capitol Hill and within the Democratic Party.” Several dozen Jewish community members calling themselves “Jews for Jamaal” wrote a counter letter, expressing support for the congressman and urging Latimer against running.
Bowman held a meeting with Jewish constituents focused on antisemitism early last month. There was a small protest ahead of the event, but two participants told the New York Jewish Week at the time that the meeting was productive and Bowman appeared attentive to their concerns.
Ahead of the meeting, two prominent rabbis in the area said most of the community had dismissed the event. Bowman’s relationship with the Jewish community had long been strained, and tensions boiled over after the outbreak of the war, they said.
In one decision that frustrated the Jewish community, Bowman co-sponsored an Oct. 16 resolution with fellow progressive Rep. Cori Bush calling for an “immediate ceasefire.” The resolution did not mention Hamas, terrorism or Israeli hostages, and Bowman’s backing drew condemnation from the Westchester Board of Rabbis, which said the resolution denied Israel the right to defend itself while Hamas held hostages and drew false equivalence between the two sides.
Last week, Bowman drew further criticism when he accused Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” at a protest calling for a ceasefire outside the White House. He is a member of the “Squad,” the group of progressive Democrats that has directed harsh criticism at Israel both before and since Oct. 7.
Bowman also landed in hot water for pulling a fire alarm inside a House building in October. He agreed to plead guilty to a false fire alarm charge and pay a $1,000 fine.
Bowman, a former school principal, won the district from longtime Jewish incumbent Eliot Engel in 2020. Bowman’s current term ends on Jan. 3, 2025. Congressional primaries in New York typically take place in the summer.
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The post Jamaal Bowman faces primary challenge after drawing fire from Jewish constituents over Israel criticism appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.