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Outgoing US Rep. Jamaal Bowman Blames ‘Pro-Israel’ District for Primary Race Loss
US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks during the National Action Network National Convention in New York City, US, April 7, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
In one of his final interviews before exiting the US Congress, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) suggested that his constituents’ pro-Israel beliefs doomed his failed reelection campaign.
“My district is a super pro-Israel district,” Bowman told Spectrum News in an interview published on Friday. “The minute I called for a ceasefire [in Gaza], that was the last straw with many in the district. And I say ‘last straw’ because I beat Eliot Engel; it was a target on my back from that community since then.”
Bowman defeated Engel, a Jewish Democrat and supporter of the US-Israel alliance who had served in Congress for over two decades, in the 2020 election.
Since then, Bowman has been one of the most strident opponents of Israel in Congress, especially in the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7. Amid the ensuing war in Gaza, he has not only accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza repeatedly but also labeled the Jewish state as a “white supremacist” entity and an “apartheid state.” He sparked outrage after dismissing reports of Hamas’s rampant sexual assault against the Israeli people during the Oct. 7 rampage as “propaganda.”
In a last-ditch effort to salvage his floundering campaign, Bowman attempted to curry favor with left-wing progressives by calling for an end to all military aid to Israel. The congressman also apologized for his previous votes to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and vowed to oppose all support for the Jewish state.
Despite his efforts, Bowman lost his Democratic primary election in June to Westchester County executive George Latimer by a staggering margin of 58 percent to 41 percent.
In contrast to Bowman, Latimer attempted to woo residents of the affluent, heavily Jewish Westchester County community by positioning himself as an ally of Israel. Furthermore, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, assisted Latimer in the primary, unleashing an eye-popping $14.5 million torrent of cash to benefit his campaign.
In the months following his loss, Bowman has repeatedly criticized AIPAC, whose mission is to foster bipartisan support for the US-Israel relationship, for involving itself in the primary battle, condemning the organization as a “Zionist regime” operated by “racist Republicans.”
In addition to his anti-Israel stance, Bowman also came under fire after pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC. Bowman initially claimed that he pulled the alarm due to suffering a panic attack. However, video later surfaced showing the lawmaker calmly walking up to the alarm, removing emergency signs, and pulling the lever. The incident reportedly embarrassed and infuriated many of his district’s constituents. The House of Representatives subsequently voted to censure Bowman.
“I wish I didn’t pull that damn fire alarm,” Bowman told Spectrum News.
The post Outgoing US Rep. Jamaal Bowman Blames ‘Pro-Israel’ District for Primary Race Loss first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.