For Israel, It's Not Only Mamdani's Win That Spells Trouble Ahead in the U.S.
Zohran Mamdani's mayoral victory in New York was only one part of Tuesday's blue wave election – all while U.S. Democrat support for Israel hits record lows in public opinion surveys. Will Netanyahu's government bother to adapt its policies and messaging?
Amir Tibon November 05 2025 IST
The headlines in Israel on Wednesday morning focused almost entirely on Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral race, for obvious reasons. The combination of a Muslim politician with such strong views against Israel getting elected in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world is indeed a gigantic news story that will naturally generate lots of coverage.
But focusing solely on the upset in New York is also a mistake, because Tuesday's results will impact U.S.-Israel relations in ways that go beyond the drama in the Big Apple.
The bottom line from Tuesday night is a massive Democratic sweep all over the map. Wherever there was a contest, it was won by the Democrats by sizable margins. Virginia is a good example – Abigail Spanberger, who will soon become its first female governor, didn't just flip the state after four years of Republican control. She won by a historic margin of approximately 15 percent in a swing state where U.S. President Donald Trump lost by only 5 percent exactly one year ago. Even in the blue wave election during Trump's first term, the Democratic candidate for governor at the time, Ralph Northam, won by single digits.
A similar story played out in New Jersey. In fact, the last round of polls showed a very tight race for governor. So close were the polls, in fact, that President Trump chose to get involved in the final stretch, personally urging the state's ultra-Orthodox Jewish population to vote in droves for Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli. Trump published two personal appeals to the Haredim of New Jersey, but in the end, it was meaningless. The polls missed the blue tsunami in the state, which carried its next governor, Mikie Sherrill, to a historic double-digit victory.
Similar results happened in California, where voters overwhelmingly supported a plan to redraw the state's Congressional map in a way that would net the Democrats several more seats in the 2026 midterm election; in Pennsylvania, where three liberal judges were re-elected to the state's supreme court; and in other states that held local elections which received less media coverage, but nevertheless, saw an incredibly high voter turnout to the benefit of the Democratic Party. This was the story all over the United States, and Mamdani's victory in New York – with more than 50 percent of the popular vote and despite a massive effort to stop his momentum – is one piece of this bigger puzzle.
For Israel, this puzzle spells trouble. The country's standing among Democrats has never been worse. This is evident both in public opinion polls that show Democratic voters turning away from Israel in big numbers, and also in the halls of Congress, where only a han
A recent letter to Trump regarding the dangers of Israeli annexation of the West Bank was signed by 46 out of the 47 Democrats in the Senate. Even lifelong supporters of Israel from the party's moderate wing, such as Senator Chris Coons and Representative Brad Schneider, are finding it harder than ever to continue their support in light of the actions and statements of Netanyahu's far-right government.
Two takeaways emerge from the U.S. election results for Israel and its leaders. First, the most critical and hostile elements toward Israel within the party secured a huge victory with Mamdani's triumph in New York. At the same time, the Democratic Party as a whole had a historic night, which gives it a boost of momentum ahead of next year's midterm election. These are two separate stories, but they both take place at a moment where Israel's standing in the U.S. is weak and under assault, and not just from the Democrats.
A normal, sane Israeli government would examine the results and realize that the political reality in the United States is shifting, and that Israel must adapt its policy and messaging if it wants to preserve
American support in the long term. Israel has no alternative for its alliance with the U.S., and it has lost a lot of support and goodwill in other parts of the world under the current Netanyahu government. The fact that Tuesday's Democratic wins were based on impressive turnout among voters under 40, the age group least likely to support Israel, is an important reminder of what awaits Israel around the corner.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist allies probably won't even bother to learn of the results, and the thought of them doing anything in light of the political developments across the ocean is laughable. Instead, they'll probably do the one thing they're truly good at: Attack Mamdani with idiotic posts for likes and shares on social media.
Haaretz
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