Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is set to join a rally in New York City next Thursday with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a trio of candidates he is backing in closely watched House races, The New York Times reports.

The event, which will be held five days before the June 23 primary at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, will lend a jolt of momentum to Mamdani’s preferred slate of far-left congressional candidates — including democratic socialists Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last election cycle.

Sanders, who is seen as a godfather of the modern left, most recently appeared with Mamdani in April at a rally to mark the mayor’s first 100 days in office. The Vermont independent also swore Mamdani in at his inauguration in January.

The senator’s decision to appear at the rally next week, however, is notable in part because he will be aiding Mamdani in his efforts to unseat two Democratic incumbents, Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Ariano Espaillat (D-NY), who have drawn backlash from the left over their support for Israel and ties to the pro-Israel group AIPAC, a chief source of criticism in the races.

Several House progressive leaders, prominently including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), have remained neutral in the primaries to unseat Goldman, who is defending his seat against Lander, and Espaillat, who is facing Avila Chevalier. Polling has indicated Goldman is in serious trouble, with Espaillat bracing for a closer race than he and his allies had expected. 

Sanders, one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the Senate, has not officially backed Chevalier, even though his appearance in his home borough of Brooklyn next week is all but tantamount to an endorsement. The anti-Israel activist, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City chapter, has drawn scrutiny in recent days over past inflammatory online posts — including one accusing Sanders of promoting “liberal Zionism.”

Espaillat, a five-term congressman, has garnered support from some influential House progressives, including Reps. Greg Casar (D-TX), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL).

Mamdani had reportedly promised to endorse Espaillat before he announced his support for Avila Chevalier late last month. He has continued to stand by her amid blowback over her old posts that are now featuring in attack ads.

Sanders has already endorsed Lander as well as Valdez, a DSA-backed state assemblymember now leaning into her opposition to Israel in campaign ads she has released during the closing stretch of her race against Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president backed by retiring Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-NY). Reynoso, a more traditional progressive, has described himself as an “underdog” in the primary, due to Mamdani’s high-profile support for Valdez.

Valdez shared a post on X Friday featuring a raised eyes emoji in response to news of the Sanders rally.

In a statement shared Friday with the Times, which cited sources familiar with the rally, Mamdani called the three primaries a “fight for the city we can afford” and “a Democratic Party driven by big ideas, not big money.”

Mamdani appeared alongside Chevalier, Lander and Valdez in a widely viewed TV ad that aired last week shortly after the Knicks had won the first game of the NBA finals.

Lander, who left the DSA over its promotion of an Oct. 8 Times Square rally celebrating Hamas’ terror attacks on Israel in 2023, insisted this week that his own appearance in the ad was not an endorsement of Avila Chevalier, who had joined that demonstration.

“I’m not supporting any other congressional candidates in New York City,” Lander told Jewish Insider, arguing that “different members of a team” he said was led by Mamdani “play different roles.”

His planned appearance with Avila Chevalier next week, however, is likely to draw further scrutiny to that explanation.

Lander did not respond to a request for comment about the rally.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is set to attend a rally with Pennsylvania state Sen. Sharif Street on Monday, a last-minute boost for Street’s campaign ahead of his Tuesday congressional primary in Philadelphia where his challenger, far-left state Sen. Chris Rabb, is favored to win.

Local analysts say that the appearance by Booker — a well-known face to local voters across the Delaware River from his home state — should help Street’s campaign, but were skeptical that it would be enough to help him beat Rabb.

One local Democratic strategist said that they don’t expect Street to win, but he remains a viable candidate, with support from many local Democrats including Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.

Booker, the strategist said, is known locally because of the shared media market, and could provide a boost with older Black voters, though the strategist said that bringing in Booker is “not some coup like a robocall from Obama.”

The strategist said that winning over Black voters will be pivotal to a Street victory, but was skeptical of Booker’s appeal among the younger Black population.

Larry Ceisler, a public affairs executive in the district, said he was doubtful of the extent to which Booker’s appearance would move the needle, though he also acknowledged that Booker is a well-known moderate locally.

Booker’s appearance could send a signal to some moderate voters who had been backing physician Ala Stanford — until recently seen as the leading candidate in the race, prior to a series of high profile stumbles — to switch their allegiance to Street, Ceisler added.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) dismissed criticism of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s scandals on Wednesday, after calling him “my kind of man” at his rally in Maine on Saturday.

“You care about character,” CNBC host Sara Eisen said to Warren. “This is a guy that had a chest tattoo with a Nazi symbol — OK, he apologized for it. It’s a guy that reportedly wrote that people concerned about rape should take some responsibility for themselves and not get so effed up that they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to. He praised military tactics used by Hamas, reportedly, in comments online when they were murdering Israeli soldiers. So I’m just curious why you think he’s ‘your kind of man’?”

Warren responded, “So, as you rightly point out, he has apologized. He’s out meeting with the people of Maine every single day so they can evaluate not who Graham Platner was but who Graham Platner is today.” She went on to say her comment was in reference to her experience reading an interview of Platner’s where he condemned the lack of consequences for bankers during the 2008 financial crisis.

Eisen said, “OK, well, ‘I dig it,’ next to a video of a bunch of terrorists killing five soldiers?” referring to a Jewish Insider report unearthing Platner’s 2014 Reddit comments. “I don’t know, I mean, you guys want to be the party of inclusivity, right?” 

“I want to be the party that stands up for hardworking people,” Warren answered. “I want to be the party that is transformative of an economy that right now is hip deep in corruption … and that’s what Graham Platner wants to do and I’m there to stand with him and to help in that fight.”

President Donald Trump is headed to Kentucky this week to rally with Ed Gallrein, his endorsed candidate to take on anti-Israel and isolationist Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the increasingly heated primary between the two men.

The campaign stop comes at a time when Massie has made himself the face of GOP opposition to the war in Iran — among the litany of other issues on which he has also broken with the president. Massie was one of two lead sponsors of a failed effort in the House last week to stop the war in Iran, while Gallrein said in a statement that the war was justified and would prevent further attacks on U.S. servicemembers and the nation.

In a ruby-red district, Massie’s opposition to the war could cost him politically, as polling shows Republicans have rallied strongly behind the administration and its efforts.

But Massie insists that Republicans  will come to share his stance. And his district has stood behind him for years even as he broke with Trump throughout his first term. The primary will not be until May 19.

For its part, the Republican Jewish Coalition is taking aim at Massie over his opposition to the war in a significant ad campaign.

“America is at war with a fanatical regime that seeks nuclear weapons. American hero Ed Gallrein stands with President Trump, our country and our military,” the RJC ad states. “Thomas Massie? He stands with Iran and radical leftists in Congress, opposing Trump, just like he did on the border and taxes.”

The RJC has spent at least $2.8 million in the race thus far, in its latest attempt to take down one of the GOP’s loudest critics of Israel. Massie, for his part, is leaning into the attacks to drum up fundraising, reposting the RJC ad and saying the group “wants America to be mired in another forever war.”

A Trump-linked super PAC is also set to spend millions opposing the incumbent; that group’s ads have also highlighted Massie’s breaks with Trump on Iran, focusing on his opposition to the Operation Midnight Hammer strikes last summer.

Massie has framed the primary as a test of “whether the Global Military Industrial Complex and Israel’s government controls the United States” and said “the Israeli lobby has spent $5 million against me because I don’t support sending our troops to fight their war.”

He’s made no secret on the campaign trail of Trump’s antipathy towards him, offering a mocking Trump impression at a campaign launch event last month — apparently betting that his maverick tendencies will help, or at least won’t cost him, among his voting base.

Gallrein’s campaign has leaned into Massie’s perceived disloyalty to Trump, and his decision to side with Democrats and the far-left on a range of key priority issues, making that a central issue of his campaign.

Some Massie supporters are reportedly growing fed up with his breaks with Trump and his focus on high-profile controversial issues, with one Gallrein supporter complaining to NOTUS that Massie’s focus on releasing Department of Justice files on the Jeffrey Epstein case doesn’t help the individual in any way, or bring down costs, and another worrying that Massie’s antipathy toward Trump will deprive the district of essential services.

As of the end of 2025, Massie maintained a significant fundraising lead over Gallrein, $2.5 million to $1.2 million. Massie closed the year with $2 million cash on hand, compared to $933,000 for Gallrein. 

Massie’s campaign has spent significantly on an ad blitz that aims to portray the Trump-backed Gallrein as “woke Eddie,” a supporter of diversity, equity and inclusion policies and gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth.

More than 1,000 New Yorkers braved the frigid temperatures on Thursday night, stretching across Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side outside of the historic Park East Synagogue, surrounded by heavy police presence and voicing a unifying message: “We are proud New Yorkers, proud Jews and proud Zionists.” 

“The stakes in this moment could not be higher, because how we act will define our community for years to come,” Eric Goldstein, outgoing CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, told the crowd. “We gather outside the sacred space that was targeted weeks ago, standing together to defend our rights as Jews to worship safely and to support Israel’s right to exist as our Jewish homeland.” 

The scene was a sharp contrast from the one two weeks ago on that same street when a mob of anti-Israel demonstrators protested outside of the Modern Orthodox synagogue, which was hosting a Nefesh B’Nefesh event providing information on immigration to Israel, shouting chants including “death to the IDF” and “globalize the Intifada.” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch later called the protest “turmoil.”

The solidarity gathering, organized by UJA-Federation as a response to the Nov. 19 protest, drew a diverse coalition of participating Jewish groups, including more than 70 synagogues, schools and Jewish institutions, representing a wide range of denominations and political leanings. Other major Jewish groups acted as cosponsors, including the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the New York Board of Rabbis. 

Members of B’nai Jeshurun, a non-denominational and progressive Upper West Side synagogue stood side by side with congregants of The Altneu, an Orthodox congregation on the Upper East Side, to condemn antisemitism; Columbia University Hillel student leaders, who have witnessed some of New York City’s worst antisemitic protests on campus, came out in solidarity, as did Yeshiva University students and high schoolers from the Modern Orthodox SAR Academy in Riverdale and Manhattan’s Modern Orthodox Ramaz School and pluralistic Heschel School. Brooklynites representing the Park Slope Jewish Center and Prospect Heights Shul crossed the river to participate, as did members of Long Island and Westchester Jewish communities.

The rally marked the first major gathering of diverse Jewish groups since the release of the remaining living hostages kidnapped during the Oct, 7, 2023, attacks and a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in October. Throughout the war, such gatherings had become common across the U.S., with a unifying focus on bringing home the hostages. 

Speakers at the hourlong event, in addition to Goldstein, were Rabbi Arthur Schneier, who leads Park East Synagogue; Hindy Poupko, UJA-Federation senior vice president of community organizing and external relations; Rabbi Joe Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis; Rabba Sara Hurwitz, spiritual leader of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale; Rabbi Joanna Samuels, CEO of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan; Rabbi David Ingber, founding rabbi of the non-denominational Romemu synagogue and senior director for Jewish Life at the 92nd Street Y; NYC Comptroller-elect Mark Levine; and Mark Treyger, CEO of JCRC-NY. The gathering also featured live performances by rapper Matisyahu and the Park East Day School choir. 

“We’re not going back — we’re only going forward,” said Treyger. “We’re going to work and fight to make sure that we see a day where every Jewish New Yorker, every member of our community, is safe, not just in our houses of worship but in every corner of our great city.” 

Schneier, who has served as senior rabbi of Park East Synagogue for more than 50 years, told Jewish Insider that the recent protest was “meant to incite fear and intimidation.”

“Chants of antisemitism, demonizing the State of Israel and its right to exist, and calling for a global intifada. Silence and indifference are not an option. No faith community should ever be met with threats, or fear risking their life to gather and pray. This gathering sends a powerful message,” he said

Schneier called for “safety and security and immediate legislation from the city and state to ban demonstrations in front of synagogues and all houses of worship,” which has been introduced by New York state legislators in recent days.  

“Let our voices be heard in solidarity — and together, we stand united against a surge of antisemitism that threatens peaceful coexistence in our city. What starts with the Jews doesn’t end with the Jews,” Schneier said, remembering his experience as an 8-year-old child in Vienna in 1938.   

“I witnessed my cherished synagogue smoldering to the ground during Kristallnacht — an organized, calculated assault on the Jewish community that was meant to terrorize and intimidate. It was just the precursor of what I lived through during the Holocaust.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is slated to appear with Graham Platner, a Democrat running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), at a rally in Portland, Maine, on Labor Day, as the progressive leader from Vermont steps up his efforts to boost left-wing candidates who have been outspoken in their criticism of Israel and its ongoing war in Gaza.

Platner, a first-time candidate and Marine veteran who launched his campaign last week, has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and backed Sanders’ recent resolutions to block arms sales to Israel. Platner’s rhetoric has faced criticism from Collins, a moderate Republican seeking her sixth term.

Sanders, who announced the rally on Monday, has not officially endorsed Platner, a 40-year-old oyster farmer whose past social media activity indicates he is a longtime admirer of Vermont’s democratic socialist senator. 

The Portland event on Sept. 1, the next stop on Sanders’ nationwide “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, follows a rally in Michigan on Saturday at which the senator sought to boost Abdul El-Sayed, a staunch critic of Israel who is vying to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in a crowded primary next year. 

In remarks over the weekend, Sanders, an early backer of El-Sayed’s campaign for the Democratic nomination, highlighted his efforts to restrict U.S. military aid to Israel and spoke out against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, claiming that Washington is “way out of touch with where the American people are” on what he called “clearly a moral issue.”

“We are paying for the starvation of children in Gaza,” Sanders said to the crowd gathered at the Miller Auditorium at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. 

El-Sayed, for his part, echoed those remarks, saying that party leadership “is still pulling its punch on the fact that we are subsidizing a genocide in Gaza.”

“Maybe we should be using our taxpayer dollars, I don’t know, to build schools for our kids, rather than sending blank checks to foreign militaries who drop bombs on other kids,” El-Sayed said in his speech last weekend.

El-Sayed, a former health director in Michigan, is facing progressive state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), a leading pro-Israel voice in the House who is favored by party leaders.

One day after former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was released from the immigration detention center where he had been held for three months, the anti-Israel activist appeared at a rally in New York City organized by a group accused of ties to the Iranian regime protesting the  U.S.’ weekend airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Mahmoud Khalil is a freedom fighter … who refuses to remain silent while watching a genocide in Palestine,” Khalil told a cheering crowd on Sunday, where he led anti-Israel chants including, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free,” at the People’s Forum protest, a demonstration organized by the National Iranian-American Council to protest the U.S. military strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.

Iranian dissidents and critics of NIAC, a U.S.-based Iranian-American advocacy group that calls for diplomacy with the Iranian regime and was critical of the Biden administration’s approach to Israel and the Middle East, accuse the group of being tied to the regime. 

Khalil, who grew up in Syria but is of Palestinian descent and living in the U.S. on a green card, led last year’s anti-Israel campus protests at Columbia against the war in Gaza and subsequent negotiations with university administrators. He was detained in March and released on Saturday after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be “highly, highly unusual” for the government to continue detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn’t been accused of any violence. 

Khalil’s release was met with support from some left-wing lawmakers.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who met Khalil at New Jersey’s Newark-Liberty International Airport a day after he was freed from a federal immigration facility in Louisiana, said that his detention by the Trump administration violated the First Amendment and was “an affront to every American.”

“He has been accused, baselessly, of horrific allegations simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech,” Ocasio-Cortez added. 

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) wrote on X that he welcomed the decision to release Khalil. “As I have said before, his prolonged detention — without charges — is a chilling, McCarthyesque action in response to the exercise of First Amendment rights to free speech and raises serious constitutional concerns,” Nadler said.