Intel: Pro-Palestinian progressive insurgent ousts House Foreign Affairs chairman
Pro-Palestinian progressive insurgent Jamaal Bowman ousted House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel in the New York Democratic primary, according to an Associated Press call of the today. While Engel has been trailing behind Bowman since the election was held last month, the counting of mail-in ballots has delayed the final results.
Pro-Palestinian progressive insurgent Jamaal Bowman ousted House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel in the New York Democratic primary, according to an Associated Press call of the election today. While Engel has been trailing Bowman by a wide margin since the election was held last month, the counting of mail-in ballots has delayed the final results.
Why it matters: Engel, a 16-term incumbent, was a powerful ally of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). While Bowman campaigned mostly on domestic issues, he also attacked Engel over his lengthy foreign policy record. Specifically, he criticized Engel’s vote for the 2002 Iraq war authorization, his opposition to President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal and his 2016 vote to allow the sale of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, as well as the influx of cash his campaign received from defense contractors.
