Maryland state Sen. Ben Kramer, a Democrat, blasted Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) at a breakfast organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington on Wednesday over his outspoken criticism towards Israel’s war in Gaza and votes to block some military aid to Israel.

The speech, which Kramer told Jewish Insider was well received by the audience, is another sign of the deep dissatisfaction in Maryland’s Jewish community with the state’s soon-to-be senior senator over his approach to the war in the Middle East.

Kramer, who said he’d supported Van Hollen since his first run for Congress and served as a surrogate for Van Hollen in his legislative district, said he didn’t have remarks prepared for the breakfast and hadn’t been planning to condemn the Maryland senator, but described it as “part of my thought process as I was working through my thoughts about the Middle East conflict and what’s going on in the propaganda campaign against Israel and how it’s being responded to.”

Van Hollen was not in attendance at the event and did not respond to a request for comment.

Kramer told JI he’s been “very disheartened and disappointed” at how Van Hollen has approached the conflict, expressing particular outrage at comments questioning whether Israel is fighting the war in Gaza in a just manner and Van Hollen’s support for the resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to stop some weapons shipments.

“All that does, is simply provides support, moral support, if nothing else, to Iran and its proxies to keep prosecuting their military efforts against Israel, because they are succeeding in the propaganda war,” Kramer said.

He said that Van Hollen’s approach to the conflict is going to be “very much on my mind in the future.” Van Hollen is up for re-election in 2028, in a state with a sizable and politically active Jewish community. Election returns from precincts with a sizable share of Jewish voters suggest some typically-Democratic voters backed GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan in November.

“I think that his efforts are misplaced and I think it shows a lack of understanding of the Middle East conflict and the implications for the world,” Kramer said. He added that he thinks Van Hollen is out of step with the “overwhelming majority” of Maryland’s residents on this issue.

Kramer argued that Israel’s foes, having failed to destroy it militarily, are now attacking Israel’s legitimacy through propaganda and misinformation, “which sadly has resonated because of the antisemitism out in the world.”

“The world will tolerate Jews when Jews play the role of willing victim, but the moment Jews defend themselves and are not willingly playing the role of the victim, the world has no tolerance for Jews,” Kramer continued.

He said he believes Van Hollen has been swayed by that propaganda.

“Perhaps the senator [will] reflect on what it is he is doing and how that is interpreted by the overwhelming majority of the residents of our great state that support Israel in this desperate time of need, and not be buying into the relentless propaganda campaign that is being orchestrated by Israel’s enemies and the Jew-haters across the world,” Kramer said.

Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) attended and spoke at the event, as did Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).

Rabbi Adam Raskin of Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, Md., told JI he had not been able to stay for Kramer’s remarks but saw Alsobrooks speak.

“She said some very specific and — I thought — reassuring statements,” Raskin told JI. “She said, ‘I believe in Israel’s right to exist. I believe in Israel’s right to defend itself.’ And perhaps, most consequentially, ‘I believe that Israel should have the means to defend itself.’ And I thought that those three points were very important for this audience to hear.”

Raskin said he took her comments as a commitment to support aid for Israel in Congress. 

He noted that there’s been concern in the state that Alsobrooks would follow Van Hollen’s lead on Israel policy, and said he was “certainly reassured to hear that she was making those commitments” and that she wanted to make them clear to those who may not have been aware where she stands.

“I really thought she hit every note eloquently and forcefully and convincingly,” Raskin said. “So I was very pleased and encouraged by what she had to say, particularly about Israel…  I hope that she will live up to what she committed herself to, but she really talked about partnership and open communication and understanding what Jewish communities’ issues are.”

Kramer said he’d spoken to Alsobrooks — whom he described as a friend — before she began her campaign, and said his only question was where she stood on Israel. He said he found her answer satisfactory and supported her campaign, also noting that she has repeatedly drawn distinctions between herself and Van Hollen on Israel policy.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said that Van Hollen was up for re-election in 2026; his term is up in 2028.