Longtime Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) is having a rough week. First, the pro-Israel Jewish lawmaker was caught in a hot-mic moment on Tuesday, and on Wednesday fellow New York Democratic congresswoman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) endorsed his progressive primary opponent, Jamaal Bowman, who has questioned the U.S.-Israel relationship.
With comparisons already being made to Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning upset of former Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018, is Engel’s job in Congress in jeopardy as voters head to the polls on June 23 for primaries?
“Eliot Engel is a champion of the working people of New York and is one of the most effective members of Congress from any district when it comes to taking care of their constituents,” Josh Block, a former aide to President Bill Clinton and former head of The Israel Project, told JNS.
On Tuesday Engel came under fire for a hot-mic moment, saying: “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.”
The remark was made at a news conference with local and state officials in which Engel asked to speak about the instability in his Bronx district over the death of George Floyd, 46, who died on May 25 in the custody of Minneapolis police. Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. told Engel that there wouldn’t be time for him to speak and, in response to Engel’s “I wouldn’t care” comment, said, “We’re not politicizing. Everybody’s got a primary, you know?”
In a statement later Tuesday, Engel said, “In the context of running for re-election, I thought it was important for people to know where I stand, that’s why I asked to speak. I would not have tried to impose on the Borough President if I didn’t think it was important.”
Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) at the annual AIPAC Policy Conference on March 25, 2019. Credit: AIPAC.
Engel, who heads the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, has served in Congress since 1989 and represents the heavily Democratic New York 16th congressional district, which currently contains parts of the Bronx and Westchester County. Yet over the decades that Engel has served, redistricting and demographics have led to significant changes in composition of Engel’s district, which today is minority-majority, with black and Hispanics making up over 55 percent of its residents.
Mark Mellman, president and CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel—whose political action committee, DMFI PAC, endorsed Engel—told JNS that while “the hot-mic moment was certainly unfortunate” and “not the kind of thing anybody would be sort of looking for,” the incident, which “was taken out of context by some,” won’t hurt Engel in the end.
“He is a well-liked and much-appreciated figure. He’s done a lot for New York, he’s done a lot for his district,” he said. “He got $5 billion for New York hospitals” during the coronavirus.
Mellman also dismissed concerns that Engel may be facing demographic challenges as well from his constituents, especially since his opponent is African-American.
Mellman noted that while the Jewish vote in Engel’s district, “is actually pretty small,” blacks and Latinos “in his district think very highly of Eliot Engel.”
He added that they “appreciate what he’s done for the district,” such as getting federal funds for “hospitals and other needs” and “his willingness to stand up to the evils of the Trump administration” that Mellman said include “attacks on a woman’s right to choose, attacks on immigrants, their attacks on health care” and “attacks on the rule of law.”
This is not about singling out Israel
At the same time, Engel is also one of the most prominent pro-Israel voices in the Democratic Party. At a time when there is concern over bipartisan support for Israel and the future direction of the Democratic Party, especially with the 2018 election of “the Squad” that includes Ocasio-Cortez, as well as anti-Israel Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Engel has been viewed as a powerful and reassuring bulwark against them.
“He is also one of the strongest, most eloquent and reliable supporters of the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel, because he understands that a strong and secure Jewish state is the cheapest unsinkable battleship America could ever have in a part of the world that matters to our security and economy a great deal,” said Block.
While Bowman’s positions on the U.S.-Israel relationship include opposition to the anti-Israel BDS movement and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it also includes conditioning U.S. assistance to Israel and calling Israel a country “that’s committing human-rights violations.”
Regarding conditioning U.S. assistance to the Jewish state, Bowman told Jewish Insider, “This is not about singling out Israel and targeting Israel. This is about any country that we provide aid to that’s committing human-rights violations. We need to have a conversation about conditioning some aid if those violations continue.”
Additionally, Bowman accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “aggressive policies toward the Palestinian people, particularly around occupation, annexation and the detaining of Palestinian children.”
“I may be just more open to having those conversations about the humanitarian crisis happening in Palestine than Eliot Engel has been all through his career,” he said.
Engel told Jewish Insider that Bowman is “anti-Israel” as “conditioning aid for Israel is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. Foreign aid doesn’t only benefit the countries that we are giving it to; it benefits the United States.”
“This nonsense about conditioning aid is a bit arrogant because we’d essentially be telling Israel, if you don’t toe the mark, if when we crack the whip you don’t jump, we’re gonna pull it away from you,” said Engel. “That’s not how one ally treats another ally.”
“We need to maintain a quality relationship with Israel,” he said. “Israel has the right to exist. I think Israel has a right to be safe and secure. And I think Israel has a right to self-determination. I also think the people of Palestine have a right to exist, have a right to be safe and secure, and have a right to self-determination as well.”
Moreover, Bowman earlier this year touted an endorsement by the anti-Israel activists of the Jewish Vote, founded in 2018 as the electoral arm of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, that has defended anti-Semitism on the left.
A critical leadership position
Democratic strategist Steve Rabinowitz told JNS that Engel is not “in particular danger,” though “it’s good and healthy that he’s running as though he is.”
Rabinowitz blamed “talk from political conservatives and some media” behind the hype that Engel may be in jeopardy of losing his seat.
“The gaffe was a gaffe, no matter what Elliot’s people say, but hardly a career-ending one after his substantial career,” he said. “He’s so much bigger than that.”
Nevertheless, an Engel loss would be devastating to the pro-Israel community, according to Jewish Democratic activists.
“He is a tremendous leader on America’s national security and foreign policy, and his loss would not only deprive his constituents of an amazing fighting champion, but it would also mean replacing one of the most pro-Israel members of Congress with one of the most anti-Israel members of Congress, who truly is out of step with this district in New York City,” said Block.
An Engel loss would be “a significant blow, there’s no question about it,” Mellman told JNS. “He occupies a critical leadership position as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He is a strong advocate for the U.S.-Israel relationship and his opponent is not.”
“Chairman Engel is one of the strongest champions of the mutually beneficial U.S.-Israel relationship and he is an irreplaceable leader of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” Democratic strategist Aaron Keyak told JNS. “Our party and our country are better with him in Congress.”
