For years, Congress has funded the Israeli military with hundreds of billions of dollars and near-unanimous support. Supporting Israel unconditionally was widely considered a prerequisite for national office, even as millions of Palestinian and Lebanese Americans watched relatives face repeated cycles of killing, displacement, and deprivation as a result of that support.
But the era of blank-cheque funding and impunity for Israel is over and will not return, the article argues. For anyone who doubts this, the New York City elections provide the clearest evidence: pro-Palestine candidates swept all five boroughs in decisive victories. Many factors contributed to these historic results, but they confirmed one thing beyond any doubt — that support for Palestinian rights is driving an extraordinary political realignment, and American politics will not return to what it was.
The scale of the shift became clear almost immediately after polls closed Tuesday night. The first to feel it was outgoing Representative Dan Goldman, who faced a challenge from his left-wing opponent, former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander. Throughout his political career and to the end of this campaign, Goldman had been an outspoken supporter of Israeli policies against Palestinians. He refused to acknowledge Israel’s seizure of Palestinian land, denied what critics and human rights organisations describe as genocide in Gaza, and even acknowledged that he did not vote for Zohran Mamdani — the Democratic nominee for NYC mayor — because Mamdani has been vocal on Palestinian rights.
While Goldman’s constituents demanded relief from the rising cost of living, their Washington representative was voting to send hundreds of billions of dollars to the Israeli military and supporting Republican-led legislation to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court — effectively shielding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from arrest.
In previous years, those votes might have secured his re-election. This year, they proved fatal — and no amount of campaign donations could offset them.
Results were called just four minutes after polls closed. Goldman lost to Lander by 30 points — becoming, according to observers, the first member of Congress in history to be so clearly defeated because of unwavering support for Israel.
An hour later, the same story repeated itself. Few had expected Darializa Avila Chevalier — a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights — to defeat five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat. AIPAC and its allied groups had poured millions of dollars into the race, attacking Avila Chevalier relentlessly and working to save Espaillat. It was not enough. In what was widely described as the night’s most stunning upset, Avila Chevalier defeated Espaillat. Her victory rally rang with chants of “Free Palestine.”
It is now clear that Avila Chevalier’s unambiguous moral stance against what she and her supporters characterise as genocide in Gaza was an asset to her campaign — just as it was for Lander and Claire Valdez.
In a single night, two sitting members of Congress whose top donor was AIPAC both lost their seats. A central factor, the article argues, was the conditions attached to that support: denying what critics describe as Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, and voting to send hundreds of billions of dollars to Israel while Americans struggle with the cost of living. The results sent shockwaves through Washington, where most members of both parties still accept the same donations and cast the same votes. Equally significant was the fact that pro-Palestine Mayor-elect Mamdani chose to endorse Lander, Avila Chevalier, and Valdez without equivocation, despite intense pressure from Democratic Party leadership — and was rewarded overwhelmingly by voters for doing so.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report