The Daily Populous Saturday June 20th, 2026 evening edition
Authored by jpost.com and submitted by Wolfy1-2-3

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday night accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee of being “monsters” for spending “millions in dark money” to ensure pro-Israel candidates win seats in the November midterms.

Mamdani made his remarks at a rally headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at Kings Theater in Brooklyn ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primaries for progressive congressional candidates. He called on the crowd to help elect Jewish former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, State Assembly member Claire Valdez and former Columbia encampment organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier.

In a fiery 30-minute speech, Mamdani took aim not just at AIPAC but also Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of the war in Gaza. He claimed that “The monsters that we are up against, they take many different forms,” and then singled out AIPAC.

He described the major pro-Israel lobby as an organization “for whom the only thing more frightening than democracy being allowed to run its course is an end to genocide and Netanyahu’s wars.”

Mamdani continued by alleging that AIPAC moves “millions in dark money to accomplish a single goal, to preserve their power so that they can turn us against one another instead of our leaders turning towards the moral change we all know to be necessary.”

AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment about Mamdani’s remarks.

The packed hall of the AIPAC 2018 conference (credit: REUTERS)

AIPAC has come under pressure lately from both sides of the aisle

The lobby, whose endorsement was once heavily sought by politicians on both sides of the aisle, has increasingly come under fire for its campaign tactics. Pro-Israel Democrats are particularly struggling to hold onto seats as voters on the left increasingly turn against the Jewish state.

Sanders, for his part, doubled down on criticism of AIPAC when he took the stage. “The American people understand that a large part of our horrific foreign policy is impacted by AIPAC funding,” he said.

Turning to the local races, Mamdani voiced support for Valdez for her opposition to Israel. “When other Democrats chose to look the other way as Netanyahu committed war crimes, Claire didn’t just name the genocide,” he said. “She organized for a ceasefire.”

In a change of tone, Mamdani emphasized unity, including an appeal to Jewish voters.

“Whether you worship at shul, at a mosque, in a church, a gurdwara, a temple, or you don’t worship at all, we share a belief that our city deserves leaders who lead with hope and not fear,” the mayor said.

whichwitch9 on June 20th, 2026 at 13:34 UTC »

Regardless what you think of Israel. Aipac is a foreign country investing money into our government to advance the agenda of that foreign country.

There should be a fucking problem with any country doing that. It's making our politicians beholden to other countries over their own constituents.

We need to expose foreign interference in pacs more. It should not be this easy for a foreign government to buy US government officials off

OnlyMamaKnows on June 20th, 2026 at 13:31 UTC »

Do Israel and their lobby have any idea how badly they've mangled their reputation and support in the US? Theyve supported the Republican party for years, which is now full of Nazis, and Democrats just flat hate them.

Excellent work.

Wildpony03 on June 20th, 2026 at 13:25 UTC »

AIPAC is weird it should be considered a foreign agent but its not despite the fact its operating in the interest of another country in its entirety