Micah Lasher, a Democratic New York state assemblymember running to fill the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in Manhattan, raised concerns on Monday that “the political dialogue” in his primary “is obsessed with Israel,” a key topic of discussion in the heavily Jewish 12th Congressional District.

Lasher, who is Jewish and a supporter of Israel, made the remarks while participating in a candidate forum at B’nai Jeshurun, a synagogue on the Upper West Side. The forum was the latest of several Jewish community events ahead of the closely watched June 23 primary election.

During the forum on Monday night, the moderator, New York Times opinion columnist Michelle Goldberg, asked Lasher where he stood regarding continued U.S. aid to Israel — a question that has been repeatedly posed to him and his opponents throughout the race.

Lasher, in a position shared by most of his top rivals, has said he backs funding to boost Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system and opposes efforts to condition U.S. aid to Israel that single out the Jewish state.

Rather than answering Goldberg’s question directly, Lasher sounded increasingly frustrated as he described feeling “exhausted by the obsession on a plot of land the size of New Jersey.”

“I care about the survival of Israel as a Jewish state. I am heartbroken by the killing of Palestinians. I will look at every policy question through those lenses,” he said.

When Goldberg noted, “We’re in a synagogue,” Lasher countered, “The leading proponents of the idea that antisemitism is different from anti-Zionism will tell you being in a synagogue doesn’t mean that your life is about Israel.” He added that there are housing and childcare issues they should be focusing on.

“I spend a great deal of time wrestling with the challenges and the horrors of what is going on in Israel,” Lasher said. “I am not obsessed with Israel, and I worry sometimes that our political dialogue — and the political dialogue in this race — is obsessed with Israel.”

In concluding his remarks, Lasher stated that his “answers will be complicated” and “will not fit into 90 seconds.”

“I’m tired of the obsession on this topic in this campaign,” he said to applause.