New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker recently visited New Hampshire, where he met with activists and spoke at a town hall meeting, sparking speculation about a potential 2028 presidential run.
The trip also underscored a political reality confronting Booker and other Democrats. The Gaza war continues to shape the political landscape, and candidates now face scrutiny over where they stand.
In New Hampshire and other early primary states, ads have already begun targeting candidates, including Booker, for their support for arms sales to Israel.
The issue, which Kamala Harris faced during her failed presidential bid, continues to divide the party and provoke pointed questions for prominent Democrats. For Booker — known for his soaring rhetoric, charisma and sharp critiques of Trump administration policies — the central question is whether growing Democratic dissatisfaction with U.S. support for Israel could hamstring a future campaign.
Democratic politicians are struggling to strike a balance between long-standing U.S. support for Israel and voter outrage over civilian suffering in Gaza and escalating settler violence in the West Bank. The tension is pushing some candidates to recalibrate their messaging amid rising pressure from their base.
The tension was apparent during Harris’ campaign.
Kamala Harris visits Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on her “107 Days” book tour on Nov. 18, 2025.
Harris, in her memoir “107 Days,” released in September by Simon & Schuster, expressed regret for not breaking more decisively from President Joe Biden on Gaza. She wrote that Biden showed “inadequate” empathy for Palestinians and acknowledged losing voters over the issue.
Gaza was not a tipping point in her election, but it did not help, said Ilan Goldenberg, who served as director of Jewish outreach and policy adviser for Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign.
“It’s a challenge she had, and I think it’s a challenge Democratic candidates will have in 2028,” Goldenberg said. “This issue has risen in terms of how much it resonates with voters and is in the conscience. Even if it doesn’t measure up to issues like the economy or health care, it still matters.”
Even if Israel and the war in Gaza don’t measure up to issues like the economy or health care in elections, they still matter, says Ilan Goldberg, an advisor to Kamala Harris during her presidential campaign.
“I think the position Democrats will have to embrace is not to walk away from Israel but to also demand accountability and the end of blank checks,” Goldenberg added. “That’s what Democrats will want to see and I think a lot of independent voters.”
“Not only can they win. I think they’ll have to say that in primary,” Goldenberg said. “I think if they don’t say that in a primary then they will have a real revolution on their hands from their base. I don’t think they have to say genocide or arms embargo. But they have to say no more blank checks, and we are going to have real accountability.”
Protests about Israel in Gaza mount
Booker, who is up for reelection to the U.S. Senate next year, has not said whether he will run for president in 2028. He ran to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020 but ended his bid before the primary election.
As he visited New Hampshire in November, an ad aired on television and social media zeroing in on his July meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The ad, from the Institute for Middle East Understanding, claimed that Booker “stands with Israeli officials wanted for war crimes” and “voted with Republicans to keep the weapons flowing.”
The voiceover referenced Booker’s votes in favor of weapons sales to Israel. In July, a majority of Senate Democrats voted for a pair of resolutions to block the transfer of key 1,000-pound bombs, bomb guidance kits and automatic assault rifles to Israel. Booker voted against those resolutions.
Protests have trailed Booker outside his office, at fundraisers and during speaking engagements, including an Oct. 19 talk at the National Cathedral in Washington, where a demonstrator in a Netanyahu mask mocked the Senator’s ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. Videos of protests have been widely shared on social media.
During an Oct. 13 interview on the podcast, “I’ve Had It,” hosted by two former Bravo reality TV personalities known for progressive political commentary, he faced pointed questions about AIPAC donations. Donations via the lobby group’s political action committee topped $630,000 in the first six months of 2025, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
In the interview, Booker chastised the media for fixating on Israel and did not answer whether he believes Netanyahu is a war criminal. Millions viewed clips of the exchange.
“These are questions that a lot of people think are the important litmus tests that are loaded and hot,” Booker responded. “My urgency is to be an effective leader in bringing an end to this crisis. And I get these questions all the time that, to me, undermine my urgency.”
Booker, a Bergen County native, has tried to strike a political balance, calling out “catastrophic hunger and suffering of civilians” in Gaza. He has called Netanyahu “one of the worst leaders in Israeli history,” citing his anti-democratic measures and undermining of a two-state solution.
Booker has called for increases in humanitarian aid to Gaza and helped New Jersey constituents in need of evacuation from Gaza. Earlier this year, he sought an investigation into the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old New Jersey boy, Amer Rabee, on April 6 in the West Bank.
He has also advocated to end escalating violence by extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank. In a Nov. 19 letter, he asked President Donald Trump to pressure the Israeli government to take action to stem the violence. In August, Booker introduced the West Bank Violence Prevention Act calling for sanctions on extremists who commit violence against civilians.
In August, Sen. Cory Booker introduced the West Bank Violence Prevention Act calling for sanctions on extremists who commit violence against civilians. Here, he speaks at New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s election headquarters on Nov. 4.
“Sen. Booker’s north star is establishing a two state-solution where Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace — and he’s called out the Netanyahu government and anyone else when their actions have undermined that goal,” said David Bergstein, a spokesman for Booker. “His focus now is on ensuring a ceasefire, getting people the humanitarian aid they need and building the foundation for a just and lasting peace.”
Booker’s office did not respond to a question about whether he would support any conditions on military aid to Israel.
Democrats are recalibrating
Support for Israel, once a mostly unshakable bipartisan tradition, has deteriorated. Many Democrats see its far-right leadership as out of step with its values. They grew frustrated seeing Biden capitulate to Netanyahu, even as the Israeli leader appeared to undermine him and favor Trump, his opponent.
About two-thirds of Democrats now say that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll in August — a charge supported by human right groups but rejected by Israel as “distorted and false.”
As Democratic leaders face mounting scrutiny, some are taking tougher positions in their votes and public remarks — including those heading into 2026 elections and others who are testing waters for a possible presidential run in 2028.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 01: U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks to reporters as he leaves the Senate Chamber after delivering a record setting floor speech at the U.S. Capitol on April 01, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — who faced backlash over a July meeting and photo with Netanyahu — went on to deliver a forceful speech on the Senate floor two weeks later condemning famine and civilian killings imposed on Gaza and saying, “Israel must change course.”
Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. transportation secretary, announced in August that he would support halting U.S. arms sales to Israel and endorsing U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state. It was a notable reversal after he was criticized for ducking questions on the subject in an earlier podcast interview.
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, like Booker, is pressing the Trump administration to take action against violent settlers and Israelis obstructing humanitarian aid.
Advocacy groups say they intend to keep pressure on lawmakers. The IMEU, which ran the Booker ad — as well as similar ad campaigns criticizing Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Gallego — has committed to a long-term messaging aimed at ending what it describes as a tradition of “unconditional support” for Israel.
Harris regret
Dozens were arrested during protest during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug 20, 2024. Organizers called to end Israel’s war in Gaza at a protest outside the Consulate of Israel Chicago.
In “107 Days,” Kamala Harris wrote that voters “wanted more separation between her and the president” on Gaza. She recounted pleading with Biden to extend the empathy he showed Ukrainians to Palestinian civilians.
During her book tour, Harris faced repeated protests over the issue. “Look, we should’ve done more as an administration,” Harris said, as protesters interrupted a Seattle event on Nov. 4. “We should’ve done more.”
“We should’ve spoken publicly about our criticism of the way that Netanyahu and his government were executing this war,” Harris continued. “We had more levers, in terms of leverage, that we did not use.”
During her book tour, Harris faced repeated protests over the Israel issue. “Look, we should’ve done more as an administration,” Harris said, as protesters interrupted a Seattle event on Nov. 4. “We should’ve done more.” Here, she speaks at the 59th Annual Bloody Sunday Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma, Alabama in 2024.
Early and strong bipartisan support for Israel followed the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. But support waned as Israel’s military operations decimated Gaza, killing at least 70,000 and destroying housing, schools, utilities and hospitals.
Voters did not rank the Israeli Palestinian conflict as a top concern in the 2024 presidential election, according to a Gallup poll, falling behind the economy, democracy, national security and other issues. But 93% still responded that it was important to them — with nearly a third ranking it as “extremely important.”
Another poll, by YouGov, found it was a key concern for nonvoters. Among the 19 million 2020 Biden voters who stayed home in 2024, nearly a third cited the U.S.-backed war in Gaza as their top reason for not voting, the poll found.
Mar 8, 2024; Montclair, NJ, United States; New Jersey Students for Justice in Palestine hold a protest at Montclair State University after administrators withdrew approval for a fundraiser called “Palestine Lives.” The fundraiser for humanitarian relief in Gaza was canceled the day before the event amid heightened scrutiny of pro-Palestinian activism on campus.
Even if it’s not a decisive voting issue, a candidate’s stance on Israel and Gaza can help to define one’s political identity, said Goldenberg, senior vice president and chief policy officer for J Street, a pro-Israel, pro-peace organization.
“Where you are on this issue says something more broadly about you, along with a series of other issues,” Goldenberg said. “It says, are you part of the establishment? Are you against the establishment? Are you far left and captive to the far-left elements of the party? You don’t really want to end up in either of those places.”
Jim Zogby, a longtime member of the Democratic National Committee who has advised several presidential candidates and campaigns, said politicians are increasingly “flipping on the issue” and rejecting donations from political action committees aligned with the Israeli government.
Jim Zogby, a longtime member of the Democratic National committee and president of the Arab American Institute president, poses for a portrait in his home in Washington, D.C. on June 13, 2023.
“There is a writing on the wall that I think candidates are reading,” said Zogby, president of Arab American Institute, a civil rights advocacy organization. “Sen. Booker seems not to have learned to read yet and finds it difficult to break … I like the guy. I just think this is going to be an Achilles heel.”
Zogby does not see the issue as resolving anytime soon, or before the next presidential election. The ceasefire that took effect in October, to Palestinians, has been a failure. Attacks have slowed, but have not stopped. Aid is still blocked and much of their land remains off limits. Many Democrats today see the relationship between the United States and Israel as strained and divided.
Voters do not want to see politicians give answers that are “evasive” or a “world salad,” said Zogby. They want authenticity.
“It’s not just crafting a message which ultimately means, I work with consultants,” he said. “People want something real, and that means acknowledging the genocidal intent and acknowledging Palestinian sovereignty. It’s not just a question of calling out outrageous things done every day.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Will Democrats face scrutiny for stance on Israel-Gaza war?
