Jewish leaders in Texas are growing increasingly concerned about Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s comments on Israel, with four members of the community telling Jewish Insider that without concerted outreach from Talarico, they’re likely to back Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in the Democratic primary.

Their frustrations came to a head after Talarico accused Israel of war crimes in response to a general question on foreign policy at an event last week. “I will use every bit of financial and diplomatic leverage that this country has to end the atrocities in Palestine,” Talarico vowed to do if elected. “I will not use your tax dollars to fund these war crimes. I will vote to ban offensive weapons to Israel.”

He also said he’d refuse to accept support from AIPAC.

“I refuse to be complicit in the death and destruction in Gaza, and I will never use your tax dollars to support the killing in that part of the world, and it makes me sick to my stomach to see what’s happening,” Talarico said. “I hope in this campaign here in Texas we can send a crystal clear message to the rest of the country that we are done being complicit.”

The Texas state representative, who has studied to become a minister, said that the Gaza conflict “weighs on my heart as an educator, as someone who works with kids.” 

“God is screaming at all of us in Gaza, as we speak,” he said.

In response to a later question about “what it means to protect all people, rather than only Palestinian people,” Talarico said that “all people are created in the divine image … which means every person has equal worth.”

“We shouldn’t be empowering people like [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu who are waging war against civilians. And that is not a reflection on the Israeli people because many of you know that we have seen historic protests in Israel from Israelis against their government and against Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet,” Talarico continued.

Art Pronin, who leads the Meyerland Area Democrats Club, a largely Jewish Democratic group in the Houston area, told JI he’s known Talarico for years and the candidate has spoken to the Meyerland Democrats group. Pronin has repeatedly expressed concerns to Talarico directly and to the campaign about his Israel rhetoric, to little effect.

Pronin said he first confronted Talarico directly about the issue at the Texas Tribune festival in November, explaining that — while accusing Israel of war crimes and vowing not to accept funding from AIPAC or J Street — Talarico did not offer a word of condemnation for Hamas or its international backers, or express support for a two-state solution.

“I told him … ‘You’ve got to stop singling out one group,’” Pronin said, referring to AIPAC. He said that Talarico had apologized and said he would modify his rhetoric, but offered similar comments, unprompted, at the Houston town hall last week.

Pronin was in one of the front rows at the event, having been invited by Talarico personally. Pronin said that he again confronted Talarico and his staff after the event last week and they again apologized.

“It was the same conversation. I told him, ‘When you single out one institution over and over again, it’s dangerous.’ I explained to him why it’s dangerous: we just had a shooting in Australia this week. We had violence in New York, in the subway, a guy was stabbed in the street,” Pronin explained. “I said, ‘This is not helpful,’ and I said, ‘Somebody’s going to get hurt if you keep talking like this.’ I said, ‘You’re not balanced. You’re not talking about Hamas, you never mention [Oct. 7], you never even expressed empathy over what happened in Australia this week. And it’s Hanukkah tonight.’ I told him I was disgusted.”

Talarico has not addressed the shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney last week on social media, but did speak about it in an appearance on MSNOW’s “Politics Nation.”

“I am sending my love to our Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia and all over the world on this first night of Hanukkah,” Talarico said on Dec. 14, the day of the shooting. “It is incumbent upon all of us to confront antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head, and it was inspiring to see a Muslim man stand up for his Jewish neighbors during that deadly attack in Australia. We need that kind of interfaith solidarity all over the world if we’re going to confront these problems with truth and love, and that act of courage should inspire all of us to do the same.”

“He needs to balance his comments out,” said Art Pronin, who leads the Meyerland Area Democrats Club. “He needs to meet with our Jewish federation, our Anti-Defamation League. He needs to have that round-table meeting that I’ve tried to get him to do. He needs to hear our voices on this matter and quit repeating this everywhere he goes. He’s got to balance it out, at least.”

Pronin said that, being near the front of the crowd and having been invited by Talarico personally, he felt insulted, “threatened” and “scared” by other members of the crowd.

He said that he asked Talarico to hold a meeting with Jewish community leaders in Houston, but hasn’t heard any further followup on the subject, and feels that Talarico is ignoring his and other Jewish community members’ concerns.

“I did express to him that I might vote for Jasmine Crockett over it,” Pronin continued. “He needs to balance his comments out … he needs to meet with our Jewish federation, our Anti-Defamation League. He needs to have that round-table meeting that I’ve tried to get him to do. He needs to hear our voices on this matter and quit repeating this everywhere he goes. He’s got to balance it out, at least.”

Talarico’s campaign manager, Seth Krasne, defended Talarico’s record in a statement to JI.

“James believes every human life is sacred. His longstanding record combating antisemitism, defending Jewish students on the floor of the Texas House, and supporting Israel’s right to exist demonstrate his steadfast commitment to Jewish safety,” Krasne said.

Krasne continued, “He will continue to speak out against Prime Minister Netanyahu’s unacceptable actions that threaten civilians in Gaza — this moral clarity should never be misconstrued as opposition to the safety and security of Israeli civilians and Jewish people around the world. In the coming months, James looks forward to working with Jewish leaders to continue the important work of eradicating hate wherever it rears its ugly head.”

A source familiar with the situation told JI that Talarico will not accept campaign contributions from any advocacy group associated with either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but is willing to meet with any group about the issue.

In a statement on the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, Talarico said that the “horrors of October 7th, 2023 will reverberate through our hearts and minds for generations to come,” noting that the attack was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and said that Hamas’ “war crimes should never be forgotten.”

“Every person on this Earth — no matter their color or creed — bears the image of the sacred. I continue to pray for the safe return of the hostages, an immediate end to the suffering in Gaza, and a lasting peace in the region,” he continued.

Days after the initial Hamas attack in October 2023, Talarico supported a resolution in the Texas statehouse that highlighted Hamas’ attack, its intent to destroy Israel and its use of Palestinian civilians as human shields and his support for Israel’s survival and right to “act decisively and unilaterally in self-defense to protect its citizens” and “pursue without interference or condemnation the elimination of Hamas until Hamas is permanently neutralized and public safety is assured.”

The resolution also called for the U.S. to “provide all assistance as may be required to support Israel in its defense against Hamas and all other terrorist organizations.”

“He’s very popular among the younger people and it’s very disheartening to see that he’s … going to pander to that very far-left wing progressive movement in terms of what’s going on with Israel,” Lisa Strauss, a leader in the local Jewish community, said, “especially given the fact that he’s technically in seminary to become a pastor.”

He also praised the ceasefire and hostage release agreement in November 2025, saying, “I hope this ceasefire will hold so we can achieve lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.”

Lisa Strauss, a leader in the local Jewish community who recently helped start Jewish Women Vote Houston, said that Talarico’s comments are “very disappointing.”

“He’s very popular among the younger people and it’s very disheartening to see that he’s … going to pander to that very far-left wing progressive movement in terms of what’s going on with Israel,” Strauss said, “especially given the fact that he’s technically in seminary to become a pastor.”

She expressed particular frustration at Talarico’s accusations of war crimes and other atrocities in Gaza, which she described as “propaganda,” and said that it’s “frightening” that he and so many other Democrats are taking similar stances and seem unwilling to “even open a discussion about Israel.”

“I would like to see him meet with Jewish groups and explain his stance in greater detail,” Strauss said.

She said that Talarico’s positions on Israel were a major subject of discussion at the first meeting of the Jewish women’s group, and are an issue that’s causing significant concern in her community.

“It’s definitely something that we need to look more into and be more concerned about,” Strauss said, adding that she was surprised that Crockett, an outspoken progressive on many issues, appears to be the more pro-Israel candidate in the race at the moment.

Yvette Pintar, a Jewish voter and local Jewish and Democratic leader who was also in the audience at Talarico’s event last week, said she’d heard Talarico make similar comments in the past and that they made her “uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t provide context for what’s going on in Gaza,” Pintar said. “I have mixed feelings when I hear about, ‘I’m not taking one penny from AIPAC.’ I’m not a fan of AIPAC, so that’s OK, but it’s still very uncomfortable to hear it, when you single out one entity not to get money from in today’s world.”

“I don’t think that he’s inherently antisemitic … but I don’t think he has been very thoughtful about standing with Jews when it comes to concerns for our physical security, anywhere — overseas, here, or whatever it is,” Yvette Pintar, a Jewish voter and local Jewish and Democratic leader said. “It’s hard to believe that he has given much thought to the concerns of Jews when it comes to physical security.”

Pintar said she was particularly uncomfortable with Talarico’s answer to the follow-up question later in the event — about speaking for “all people, rather than only Palestinian people” — which she said had provided an opportunity for Talarico to commit to offering a statement of support for the Jewish community, particularly in the wake of the Sydney shooting, but felt he failed to do so.

“To me, it was so jarring not to address that, he missed a very easy and obvious opportunity to address the real anxieties that Jews and Israelis have about security. Jews right here in Texas, we had [the hostage crisis at a synagogue in] Colleyville in the not too distant past. This is right here in Texas, so I just thought that that was jarring and very concerning,” Pintar said.

“I don’t think that he’s inherently antisemitic … but I don’t think he has been very thoughtful about standing with Jews when it comes to concerns for our physical security, anywhere — overseas, here, or whatever it is,” Pintar said. “It’s hard to believe that he has given much thought to the concerns of Jews when it comes to physical security.”

Pintar said she hasn’t made up her mind on who to vote for yet, but has the “impression” that Crockett “may be better on these issues.” She said the Talarico campaign “needs to demonstrate to Jewish voters that he takes our concerns seriously. I haven’t seen anything yet that shows he has,” and particularly reassure Jews about their security.

She also said that his current approach to the conflict in Gaza “seems divisive, and that’s not what I would hope [for] from a candidate who is supposedly a peace-loving guy who is concerned with all kinds of communities.”

Like many progressives now running for Congress, Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, has made opposition to Israel a central part of his messaging.

He frequently accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza, advocates for blocking U.S. aid to Israel and is an outspoken critic of AIPAC. During a campaign event last month, Platner, a 41-year-old former Marine who runs an oyster farm, also said he believes that Israel is a terrorist state.

But more so than many candidates, the political newcomer seems particularly invested in engaging on Middle East policy, even if his views have drawn scrutiny, according to audio of a recent private discussion in which he debated about Israel with some attendees at a fundraising event in Maine for nearly 20 minutes.

Speaking at the August fundraiser, Platner defended his stances on Israel and shared previously undisclosed details about his personal ties to the region, according to the audio, recently shared with Jewish Insider.

Despite his hostile criticism of Israel, Platner said he believed that the country “has the same right to exist that every nation has to exist,” though he did not confirm whether he recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. 

While he said he agreed that Hamas is a terrorist organization, Platner claimed that Netanyahu had “publicly stated that” Israel was “funding Hamas to make sure that there was going to be no non-radical leadership within Gaza in order to keep a Palestinian state from happening.”  

While members of Netanyahu’s coalition have made this argument — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich referred to the terrorist organization as “an asset” as it serves as an obstacle to Palestinian statehood — the prime minister has never personally made such a claim. New York Times reporting from shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks alleged that the Israeli prime minister had allowed the Qatari government to send money into the Gaza Strip for several years in order to “maintain peace in Gaza.” Netanyahu called allegations that he was empowering Hamas “ridiculous.”

“It is difficult for me to lay the onus of everything only at the feet of the Palestinians,” he explained, “and not include the Netanyahu government.”

Platner also quibbled with an attendee who said that 1,200 Israeli civilians had been killed during the attacks, noting that a percentage of those who had died on Oct. 7 were soldiers in the Israeli military.

“It wasn’t 1,200 civilians. It was 600 military members,” Platner countered, using a number that far exceeded the approximately 300 soldiers who were killed in the attacks. 

“Who were taken sleeping, unarmed, out of their beds, I’ve met families,” the attendee responded, likely referring to the tatzpitaniot, unarmed female observer soldiers, and others, who were famously killed and kidnapped in their pajamas.  

“When you are wearing a uniform and carrying a gun in the service of a cause, it is difficult for me to feel that you can be called a civilian,” said Platner, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. “There is a one-way street on this,” he continued, “that I find to be disingenuous.”

The private comments suggest that Platner is not merely paying lip service to such issues on the trail, as he runs in a competitive primary against Maine Gov. Janet Mills for the Democratic nomination to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). 

Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Platner’s views on Israel and Gaza have received limited attention in recent weeks as his campaign has weathered controversy over his past incendiary Reddit posts and faced questions over when he first became aware that a skull tattoo on his chest he had for nearly 20 years resembled a Nazi symbol known as a Totenkopf.

Platner, who covered the tattoo this month, has insisted he did not know what the skull signified until recently, though reporting from JI and CNN has contradicted that claim.

He has also argued that members of his family are Jewish and never objected to the skull tattoo when he took his shirt off around them. “Eighteen years,” he told The Atlantic recently. “It’s never come up.”

In the conversation about Israel at the fundraiser, which took place before controversy ensnared his campaign, Platner noted his stepbrother is Seth Frantzman, an Israeli author, journalist and security analyst who has long worked for The Jerusalem Post and lives in Jerusalem, saying they are “very close,” according to the audio.

Frantzman, who has previously written admiringly about Platner without mention of their familial ties, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Platner also said that he had “multiple friends in B’Tselem,” the left-wing Israeli human rights group that has described Israel as an apartheid regime and accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza — as he argued that Israel is not fully a democracy.

He cited his friends from B’Tselem “who have showed me videos, who have introduced me to former soldiers, who have introduced me to Palestinians, who have laid out a very clear and, frankly, well-sourced case that Palestinians living within the borders of the occupied territories do not live in a democracy, that they do not have equal rights, that they do not have equal access to areas.”

He said that, “as an American taxpayer,” he was uncomfortable with sending continued U.S. aid to support Israel’s military.

But even as he has been deployed to the Middle East, Platner confirmed that he had never visited Israel.