At the first and only Maryland Senate debate, held Thursday night, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks sidestepped a question on whether, as a senator, her position on Israel would be more aligned with retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), a stalwart backer of Israel, or Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who has emerged as one of the leading critics of the Jewish state in the Senate.  

Alsobrooks, a Democrat, is running against former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan in the unusually competitive Senate race in the solidly-Democratic state. 

“I’ve been really fortunate to have the support of both Sen. Van Hollen and Sen. Cardin, and we have a tremendous delegation who I’ve worked with over the years when it comes to this issue. I will be Angela Alsobrooks as a senator,” she said. 

She later added that she would have attended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress, which Van Hollen skipped. 

Hogan, the Republican former two-term governor, responded that he was “going to be a strong supporter of Israel, as I always have been. I’m going to be more like a champion for Israel like Ben Cardin, rather than trying to equivocate or do both side-isms or to follow Chris Van Hollen, who is probably the most anti-Israel member of the United States Senate.”

Alsobrooks further detailed her views on the Middle East: “Let me tell you what I believe: We recognize a horrific attack that occurred in Israel on Oct. 7, and I believe in this moment, we have an obligation to make sure that we’re getting those hostages home to their families, and that we get to a cease-fire, making sure as well that we get aid into Gaza for the Palestinians who are suffering. We’ve got to get to a two-state solution so that we have peace and security in Israel, peace, security and self-determination for the Palestinians in Gaza.”

Alsobrooks added that in the longer term, “Our multilateral relationships with UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan is going to be necessary for us to isolate Iran, to have the longterm sort of stability that we need. But I support Israel and support its right to defend itself, and I will continue to support that alliance.”

Taking aim at Alsobrooks for changing her position on offensive military aid to Israel, Hogan said, “I disagree with my opponent, who was calling for cutting off military aid to Israel and demanding an immediate cease-fire.” Alsobrooks said in May that she would vote against future arms sales to Israel if the IDF invaded Rafah and agreed with the Biden administration’s threat to withhold offensive weaponry.

“Just this week we celebrated the tremendous loss of life, the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, and we remember those victims and their families and those hostages that are still being held. It’s moments like this, people have to stand up and be counted, and we as a country have to stand with our allies, and Israel’s our most important ally, and we’ve got to stand up to our enemies. I don’t think you can try to walk down the middle of this issue. I think there’s no question we’ve got to back Israel,” he continued.