In California, Israel Is Emerging As A Defining Democratic Test

California congressional races are turning into a proxy war over the Democratic Party’s bitter divide on Israel as the widening conflict in the Middle East spills into domestic politics.

From the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco to a hotly contested primary in the Central Valley, Democrats are tearing into each other over U.S. support for Israel and whether groups like AIPAC hold too much sway in Democratic politics. As the U.S. and Israel continue their unpopular war in Iran, driving up gas prices and raising the foreign policy stakes, the conflict is inflaming an intraparty rift with ramifications for the midterms and the run-up to 2028.

Progressive contenders, whether they are running to claim a long-sought Republican district or succeed a liberal icon, say it’s not complicated: Candidates who won’t challenge Israel are out of step with their voters. 

“If you're not going to take a stance on something that’s very clear at this point,” said Saikat Chakrabarti, who is running for Pelosi’s open San Francisco seat against state Sen. Scott Wiener, “then how can we trust you to represent us?”

As Democrats try to chart a path back to power, Israel is emerging as a defining test of the party’s politics — and how far its candidates are willing to go in challenging longstanding U.S. support for the country.

These are not symbolic debates. If Democrats win back Congress, the next class of lawmakers could help decide the level and terms of that backing. And the ground is shifting quickly: J Street now says the U.S. should end “unconditional military subsidies,” a sign of how quickly such positions are nearing the mainstream.

That broader split spilled into party politics this month, when Democrats fought over formally condemning AIPAC, fueling another round of infighting between California Democrats. And it has already permeated the incipient 2028 presidential race as Gov. Gavin Newsom — a likely candidate — faced a backlash for likening Israel to an “apartheid” state and then spurred more criticism when he walked that back.

Candidates like Chakrabarti argue Democrats must speak with moral clarity on an issue where public opinion has shifted rapidly, particularly among young voters, above all by calling Israel’s Gaza counteroffensive — launched in response to Hamas killing some 1,200 people and taking hundreds of captives — a genocide.

They have also attacked AIPAC as an example of the corrupting influence interest groups wield in Washington. In one indication of how hot the anti-AIPAC fervor burns in some quarters, a “track AIPAC” group with dubious methodology attacked Orange County Rep. Dave Min for winning the support of pro-Israel groups even though AIPAC spent millions against him last cycle.

Governor hopefuls have piled on even though AIPAC does not play in statewide races. Billionaire megadonor Tom Steyer declared his independence from AIPAC in a bid to cast himself as an outsider, while Rep. Katie Porter has sent fundraising emails touting her distance from AIPAC and highlighting the group’s contributions to Rep. Eric Swalwell, who has since left the race and resigned from Congress amid sexual assault allegations.

Though AIPAC has not yet weighed in on the California races, its mixed showing in the Illinois primary has spurred criticism here. Spokesperson Patrick Dorton said the group is “looking carefully at California races” to “prevent detractors of the US-Israel relationship from being elected to Congress” and said “the attempt to demonize AIPAC and pro-Israel Democrats is anti-democratic and morally wrong.”

“There’s been an insidious attempt to try to deny pro-Israel Democrats the opportunity to participate in primary elections,” Dorton said. “Pro-Israel Democrats should have every right to have their voices heard in primary politics.”

No race has exposed the split more clearly than the contest to replace Pelosi. In an unshakably blue bastion where voters’ choices run from relatively centrist to far-left Democrats, candidates’ positions on Israel can be a critical differentiator. Both Chakrabarti and supervisor Connie Chan have pushed beyond cutting off aid and suggested imposing sanctions on Israel.

That has tested Wiener, a former leader of the Legislature’s Jewish caucus who has both condemned Israel’s current government and pushed controversial legislation to combat antisemitism in public schools. Wiener was once excoriated by the left for declining to label Israel’s Gaza offensive a genocide. When he did so this year, he infuriated pro-Israel supporters who felt he had shifted for political gain.

Wiener said in an interview that he decided to describe Israel’s actions as a genocide after avoiding the freighted term for years. While he said that conclusion was a “no-brainer” for many San Franciscans, he also accused Chakrabarti of “working overtime to make it an issue” in the race.

“It is a hard year to be a lefty Jew running for Congress — to say Israel's existence is critically important, it is home to half of the Jews on Earth,” Wiener said, “and the Israeli government is an abomination, the Israeli government is engaged in an effort to destroy Palestinian communities.”

Similar fractures are playing out in a Central Valley primary clash that has become emblematic of the larger struggle between the party’s centrist and progressive camps.

Two very different Democrats are vying to take on GOP Rep. David Valadao in a rural district made bluer by last year’s partisan redistricting push: Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains is one of the Legislature’s most conservative Democrats, while school board member Randy Villegas has been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Their positions on Israel have only sharpened those distinctions.

Democratic Majority for Israel has endorsed Bains over Villegas. Villegas’ campaign has seized on a video in which Bains appears to tell someone during a conference call that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, casting her as a candidate willing to “do or say anything depending on who is in the room.”

In an interview, Villegas connected his stance on Israel to voters’ economic anxieties.

“Folks on the ground are increasingly aware of the billions of dollars we’re sending to this genocidal regime at the same time people are struggling to afford gas prices here in the Central Valley, to afford health care,” Villegas said.

Bains, in a statement, said “I approach the word genocide with care, and I don’t believe it applies to Israel.” Her campaign said she had misunderstood the question.

“We need leaders in Congress who approach these issues with the seriousness and thoughtfulness they deserve – not soundbites or false choices – and that will continue to be my focus,” Bains said.

In the San Diego seat Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is vacating, Democratic Majority for Israel endorsed San Diego City Council member Marni von Wilpert over candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar and launched a six-figure ad blitz that paints Campa-Najjar as a flip-flopper on abortion rights without mentioning Israel (a Campa-Najjar spokesperson said in a statement the group “will say or do anything to keep the son of a Palestinian immigrant out of Congress”).

And as young challengers around the state seek to oust veteran Democratic lawmakers, some are invoking Gaza as a prime example of how House incumbents have drifted from their base.

Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang has called for a halt to all U.S. funding to Israel and assailed Rep. Doris Matsui for not accusing Israel of genocide, saying Matsui’s position shows voters “exactly who’s who.” 

“We lost to Trump twice, and a big part of that is because Democrats have lost touch to our base,” Vang said in an interview. “If I was a sitting congresswoman I wouldn’t have voted this past January to approve billions of dollars for Israel when families are struggling.”

A Matsui spokesperson said in a statement that Vang “has no real answers on foreign policy — just buzzwords,” noting Matsui has vehemently denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Congresswoman Matsui has been unambiguous: Netanyahu is a war criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians,” spokesperson Roger Salazar said in a statement. “She will continue to oppose offensive weapons transfers to Israel and push for a two-state solution.”

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