Micah Lasher, who is running to succeed Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler in Congress, said on Monday that he is “exhausted” by the amount of focus that has been given to Israel throughout the race.
During a candidate forum at the Upper West Side synagogue B’nai Jeshurun, Lasher said he spends a “great deal of time wrestling with the challenges, and the horrors, of what is going on in Israel.”
But the State Assembly member continued, “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.”
Lasher’s comments came in response to a question by moderator Michelle Goldberg, a New York Times columnist, about military aid to Israel. Jack Schlossberg, a Lasher opponent who did not appear at the forum on Monday, supports conditioning military aid to Israel and has attacked other candidates — namely Lasher and Alex Bores, who also missed Monday’s forum — for not doing the same.
“I am exhausted by the obsession on a plot of land the size of New Jersey,” Lasher said, adding that domestic issues including housing and childcare costs need to be addressed.
Questions surrounding Israel — such as whether candidates would vote to send the country military aid, whether they’d block weapons sales and whether they believe anti-Zionism is the same as antisemitism — have been central topics at numerous forums leading up to the Democratic primary on June 23 for New York’s 12th Congressional District, one of the country’s most heavily Jewish districts.
Similar questions have arisen at forums and town halls across the country during this midterm election cycle, as Israel — and AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group that has become anathema for many progressives — becomes increasingly unpopular among Democratic voters.
But the format of these forums aren’t conducive to answering questions so complex, Lasher said, adding that his answers on the subject in Congress “will be complicated” and “will not fit into 90 seconds.”
Lasher clarified that the issue is of great significance to him, saying he cares about Israel’s survival as a Jewish state and is “heartbroken by the killing of Palestinians.”
Bores, Schlossberg and George Conway, another candidate in the race, all missed the forum at B’nai Jeshurun, which was held shortly before tip-off of the Knicks’ NBA Finals game.
Candidates Nina Schwalbe, Laura Dunn and Patrick Timmins participated in the forum alongside Lasher.
Dunn took a shot at Lasher after he said he will resist getting “drawn into definitional arguments” when asked about codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which critics say penalizes Israel criticism as antisemitism. “A lot of what we do as legislators is make choices about where we want to spend our energy and time, and I don’t want to spend my energy or time debating this,” Lasher said.
“I think it’s a shame when politicians avoid hard questions,” Dunn said, drawing applause.
Lasher and Timmins both said they would support keeping New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as the Democrats’ leader in the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Dunn and Schwalbe said they would replace him, since Jeffries said impeaching Trump was not a top priority.
The latest poll, conducted by Emerson College in mid-May, found Lasher had the support of 22% of votes with Bores trailing by two percentage points, with a margin of error of 4.8%. They were followed by Schlossberg at 11% and Conway at 10%. About a third of voters were undecided.
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