The hyperpartisan gerrymandering arms race is threatening to derail the careers of several of the strongest allies to the Jewish community within the Democratic Party.

A newly redrawn congressional map proposed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday targets four seats held by pro-Israel Democrats, raising concerns among many Jewish leaders at the state and national levels about the implications of losing pivotal voices helping moderate the Democratic Party’s rhetoric on Israel and antisemitism. 

The aggressive redistricting plan, the broad outlines of which were first shared with Fox News, appears to eliminate a pair of South Florida House seats held by two of the most vocal pro-Israel Jewish Democrats in Congress, Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), as well as two districts in Tampa and Orlando held respectively by Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Darren Soto (D-FL), both of whom are viewed as dependable voices in support of Israel.

The map, which comes amid nationwide redistricting efforts from both parties, is expected to pass the Republican-controlled Legislature in a special session this week, though Democrats have said they intend to challenge it in court. Democrats currently hold seven of the state’s 28 congressional seats, after Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) resigned last week amid a House ethics investigation. Her seat did not seem to be affected by the map, which is facing accusations of partisan gerrymandering that could run afoul of state laws.

DeSantis has cast the new map as a necessary corrective meant to reflect the state’s changing population. But Jewish Democrats questioned the Republican governor’s motives, while expressing alarm that his plan threatens pro-Israel members, especially as the party has grown increasingly divided on Middle East policy and the rise of antisemitism.

The new congressional lines “risk drawing out members who have represented large Jewish constituencies for decades and dedicated their careers to combating antisemitism and strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), a Jewish Democrat who is one of his party’s most outspoken supporters of Israel, told Jewish Insider on Monday. “Losing them would be a massive blow to Congress.”

Former Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL), a Jewish Democratic leader in South Florida, told JI he was troubled by the new map, calling the effort to “throw out” four pro-Israel members “very problematic” and “very dangerous” for the Jewish community, particularly amid dwindling Jewish representation in the House.

“When I was in Congress, there were a lot more Jewish representatives than there are today,” Klein noted. “It’s a big deal,” he said of the implications of potential redistricting.

Andrew Weinstein, a Democratic activist in South Florida close to Moskowitz and Wasserman Schultz, echoed that sentiment. “At a time when the Jewish community is constantly under threat, it would be a real loss to no longer have them in Congress,” he told JI in an interview, describing the two lawmakers as “proudly and openly supportive of” Jewish issues. 

“Their prominence, I would say, is an important factor,” he explained.

Brian Romick, president of Democratic Majority for Israel, dismissed the map as a “blatant attempt to push out pro-Israel Democratic champions in Congress.”

“It’s bad for our country, it’s bad for those who care about Israel and it’s a violation of Florida’s redistricting constitutional amendment,” he said in a statement to JI. “We urge lawmakers to reject this shameless partisan stunt.”

Halie Soifer, the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told JI that “South Florida is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the country, which is why most of South Florida is represented by Democrats — because historically, and certainly under” President Donald Trump, “it’s only Democrats who share democratic and Jewish values.”

She suggested that DeSantis’ plan could ultimately “backfire on the GOP and and benefit Democrats in November,” citing Trump’s low approval ratings as well as Republicans’ unilateral effort to formalize a new map without voter feedback, in contrast with recent successful Democratic redistricting efforts in California and Virginia.

Richard Stark, president of the Florida Democratic Party Jewish Caucus, told JI he was “outraged that the supposedly pro-Jewish governor of Florida seeks to eliminate the congressional seats of mostly Jewish members,” adding of DeSantis, “Not surprising and certainly not pro-Jewish.”

For her part, Wasserman Schultz claimed that “DeSantis drew up illegal, partisan maps in a backroom and made sure Fox News got them before lawmakers did.”

“This clear effort to steal more seats for Republicans shows his total contempt for Florida voters, who voted two-to-one in favor of a ban on partisan gerrymandering in our Constitution,” she said in a statement to JI on Monday. “This nakedly partisan scheme breaks state law. While Republicans focus on cherry-picking their voters, I’ll keep fighting for better jobs and schools and take on the healthcare and housing high-cost crisis that Republicans continue to ignore.”

Soto, meanwhile, called the map “illegal,” telling reporters on Monday he plans to continue to run in Florida’s 9th Congressional District — which could be significantly redrawn to favor Republicans.

Moskowitz told JI he would need to take a closer look at the map but that DeSantis’ effort could result in some “dummymander situations,” as other Democrats suggested in response to the effort. 

He said he did not believe DeSantis had intentionally targeted pro-Israel Jewish members. “DeSantis is just trying to eliminate Democrats,” Moskowitz said. “It just so happens that the Democrats in South Florida happen to be Jewish. If he wants four seats, where is he getting four seats from?“

Even as Jewish Democrats say they are worried that the new map could push dependable members out of Congress, some strategists expressed skepticism that the plan, pending further information, would have its intended effect of adding four new Republicans to the delegation.

Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist in Florida, said the map “clearly impacts both” Wasserman Schultz and Moskowitz, “but both will have a place where they can run and win — particularly this cycle.”

“Just based on what I know of these communities, this isn’t a map that guarantees a four-seat pick up by any stretch of the imagination,” he told JI, “and one can argue, might create some additional Democratic opportunities that didn’t exist before this map.”

Senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod and Washington reporter Matthew Shea contributed to this report.