The wide-open primary race for the most Democratic district in the country is highlighting stark divisions in Israel policy among the leading candidates.

The candidates for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District — which includes western Philadelphia, Center City and parts of north Philadelphia — include a host of prominent local officials, as well as some outsider candidates, including state Sen. Sharif Street, who recently resigned as state Democratic Party chair, progressive state Rep. Chris Rabb, state Rep. Morgan Cephas and physician Dr. David Oxman.

Dr. Ala Stanford, a local surgeon and activist who gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, is also seen as a likely candidate, and former City Councilman Derek Green may also join the race.

A Rabb victory would be cause for significant concern for pro-Israel voters in the district — which includes some heavily Jewish areas of Philadelphia — and national pro-Israel groups. The state senator has an extensive history, particularly since Oct. 7, of anti-Israel activism, and has accused Israel of genocide.

He posted on social media in Sept. 2024 in support of a Philadelphia teacher who was suspended following a complaint from Jewish parents about threatening social media posts directed toward them.

“I’m here in solidarity with the educators and students who have shown the discernment to understand that discomfort is not the same as danger, animus or even harm. Quite the contrary, without discomfort, we cannot truly learn, grow or heal,” Rabb said on Instagram. “I do not believe that being critical of any political ideology — be it neo-liberalism or Zionism — is being against an entire people or ethnic group. … We must not allow students and educators to be attacked for discussing critical global issues or other international struggles … And there should be no instance when a mere reference to any sovereign nation is reflexively viewed as a proxy for hate or bias.”

Rabb was the only elected official to attend a recent anti-Israel “People’s Tribunal” hosted by a range of far-left groups, which aimed to present a case that U.S. officials including Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) are guilty of complicity with genocide and war crimes by Israel.

Rabb described the event as a generational moment that would reverberate far into the future.

He called on his state to divest from and cease any investments in Israel until the end of the war in Gaza, and said that advancing a proposed anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions bill would “cause a s*** show of epic proportions that no Democrat wants to see — especially in an election year where the policy choices we make are being scrutinized by a highly skeptical, but vigilant and well organized subset of the electorate.”

Rabb also spoke at a February 2024 protest led by anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace at which he indicated support for protests blocking traffic and opposed arrests of demonstrators at the Pennsylvania Statehouse, comparing anti-Israel protests to the Civil Rights Movement. “This is a radical expression of one’s First Amendment rights,” he said.

He visited and praised anti-Israel encampments at multiple colleges in Pennsylvania and indicated support for BDS efforts targeting the colleges, participated in events with the local Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter and spoke out against detentions and attempted deportations of student activists.

He also condemned school leaders out-of-state, in Maryland, for suspending teachers for anti-Israel, antisemitic or pro-Palestinian comments, one of whom he said was a personal friend.

“I’m irate about how these pro-#censorship folx have maliciously targeted these teachers,” Rabb said. “Being pro-#Palestine is neither a crime, nor anti-Jewish.”

Rabb on Oct. 18, 2023, 11 days after the Hamas attacks, called for a ceasefire as well as the release of “the more than 200 civilian hostages taken back into Gaza and Palestinian political prisoners.”

“I grieve the loss of lives in Israel and Palestine. I condemn Hamas’s brutal attack on October 7th … I also grieve the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, including hundreds of children, who have been killed by Israeli bombs since then. It is never acceptable to cause the deaths of civilians. All human life is sacred,” Rabb said. “I join my colleagues in Congress who have called for immediate de-escalation, ceasefire, adherence to International Humanitarian Law and humanitarian aid to Palestine commensurate with the devastation wrought upon Gaza.”

Rabb was one of several Democratic state lawmakers who signed onto a Nov. 21, 2023, letter to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation which delivered a similar message. The chief of staff for the state senator who led that letter had reposted several X posts on Oct. 7 indicating support for the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Street, who is Muslim, has long-standing ties to members of the state’s Jewish community and has spoken out in support of Israel’s right to exist and against antisemitism. He traveled to Israel in 2017 on a trip for Muslim legislators organized by the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange, a source familiar with the campaign told Jewish Insider.

“As a Black man and a Muslim, I’ve spent my entire political career fighting for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. That’s why I have stood strong against the growing tide of anti-Semitism in this country,” Street said in a statement to JI. “In Congress, I will work hard for peace in the Middle East based on mutual trust and grounded in Israel’s right to exist and the right of the Palestinian people to live without fear.”

In a November 2023 statement responding to the Hamas attack and ensuing war in Gaza, Street emphasized the right of both Israelis and Palestinians to peace and freedom, and mourned civilian deaths on both sides, while emphasizing the importance of U.S. support for Israel.

“We must affirm the right of Israel to exist. We must affirm the right of the Jewish people to have a sovereign state and we must also affirm the right of the Palestinian people to live in a place where their children are safe and their families are secure,” Street said. “A place where their hospitals and schools are not compromised by Hamas commingling military facilities with hospitals and schools.”

He said that the U.S. “must not abandon its calling to protect the children of the Holocaust” and “must remember why the modern state of Israel was created in the aftermath of World War II. We must remain vigilant in our support of Israel and its right to defend itself.”

Street added that “does not disavow us from having an obligation to the Palestinian people as well,” and ensuring that “food flows plentifully into the land of Palestinian people,” that hospitals and schools are rebuilt and that both Israeli and Palestinian children can live in peace.

He went on to condemn hate crimes in the United States targeting both the Palestinian and Jewish communities, as well as Christians.

Street also offered his condemnation and condolences following the shooting earlier this year of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.

“As the highest-ranking Muslim elected official in Pennsylvania, I am heartbroken by the senseless act of violence that took the lives of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington, D.C.,” Street said. “I extend my deepest condolences to the families of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, and to all who are grieving this horrific tragedy. No one should fear for their lives simply because of who they are or where they work.”

“I unequivocally condemn this shooting—and all acts of gun violence, antisemitism, and hatred. We must all stand against violence, wherever it occurs and whoever it targets,” Street continued. “I support the right of Israel to exist in peace and security, just as I support the rights of Palestinians to live with dignity and freedom. A just and lasting peace in the region will never be built on bloodshed. We must do better—here at home and abroad.”

As the Pennsylvania Democratic chair, Street spoke out against the Uncommitted movement that urged voters to oppose President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential primary over his position on the war in Gaza. “As a Muslim American, I know that President Biden has my back and will fight for our community,” Street said. He also emphasized the need for Democrats to appeal to both Jewish and Muslim voters.

Street did not vote last year on an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions bill when it passed either the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee or the full Senate.

Cephas does not appear to have much of a public record of speaking out about the conflict in the Middle East, though in the days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, she was an advocate for increased state-level funding for nonprofit security funding.

Larry Ceisler, a public affairs executive in Philadelphia, told JI that the race is likely to be highly competitive — a rare opportunity for a Philadelphia elected official to potentially secure a long tenure in higher office.

He described the race as essentially a toss-up and said he could see a scenario for each of Street, Cephas and Rabb to win. Ceisler said that the race could break down, to some extent, along geographic lines.

Street, Ceisler said, has strong name recognition as the son of a former Philadelphia mayor, and represents north Philadelphia. Cephas represents west Philadelphia, and Rabb represents northwest Philadelphia, an area that is very politically active, leans left and usually has high voter turnout in primaries.

Ceisler predicted Rabb will present himself as the furthest-left candidate in the field and noted that he previously beat a candidate backed by the local party apparatus, while Street is likely to lean on more traditional support bases including local party and ward leaders and some organized labor groups.

He said Cephas’ youth, gender and leadership in the Statehouse could also make her an attractive candidate for some voters. And he said that Stanford enjoys high name recognition and goodwill from the COVID-19 era, though she is untested and unscrutinized as a political candidate.

Ceisler noted that he is a Rabb constituent and former supporter who wrote to Rabb to express his disappointment early in the Israel-Hamas war about his post-Oct. 7 positions, saying he felt Rabb was “uninformed” and had accepted false and misleading information, though he said that Rabb should not be “vilified.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified the name of public affairs executive Larry Ceisler.