How the Engel, Omar primaries became proxy wars over Israel
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel and freshman Ilhan Omar are fending off Democratic primary challengers backed by the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel wings of the party.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., risks losing his seat in the New York Democratic primary next week after a 31-year tenure in Congress. And while freshman committee member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is expected to win her August primary, she won the endorsement of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer Labor Party with only 65% of the delegates. The other 31% of delegates backed her pro-Israel challenger.
The Engel and Omar primaries have become two of the most closely watched races in a series of intraparty proxy wars playing out between the party’s pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian factions in House districts across the country.
