Posted on Friday, October 17, 2025
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by Outside Contributor
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Today’s Morning Jolt concludes by noting that New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani insists he has no opinion about the future of Hamas, but he is adamant that if Bibi Netanyahu ever sets foot in New York City, the NYPD will arrest him on war crimes charges.
Needless to say, there are some gargantuan legal questions about whether the NYPD could arrest a foreign leader who has diplomatic immunity over a charge that the U.S. federal government does not recognize as legitimate; also note that the U.S. government does not recognize the International Criminal Court, which issued the arrest warrant. In other words, even if a Mayor Mamdani ordered the NYPD to “arrest that man!” the cops wouldn’t have any legal authority to do so.
But there are two other developments this morning between the Democratic Party and Israel worth noting. First, from the Washington Free Beacon:
Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said there is no room for pro-Israel voters within his coalition, arguing that fellow Democrats should not make “an exception” for people who are “progressive except Palestine.”
“That exception is one that I believe we should not only take issue with because of what it means for Palestinians and Palestinian human rights,” he told the New York Times in an interview published Tuesday. “But also, whenever you are at peace with the making of an exception, you make it easier to make another exception — wherever, whenever.”
Then, over at Axios:
Top Democrats in Pennsylvania are maneuvering to run against Sen. John Fetterman in a 2028 primary contest, threatening to tear the party apart in the biggest battleground state in the nation.
Democrats who could run against Fetterman include Reps. Brendan Boyle and Chris Deluzio and former Rep. Conor Lamb, according to multiple political insiders in Pennsylvania.
For what it’s worth, Fetterman has some pretty compelling counterevidence to the charge that he’s some sort of secret supporter of the Trump agenda: “Fetterman later shared an article about a report from a conservative group showing that he is among ‘the least Trump-aligned Democratic lawmakers’ in Pennsylvania, voting with the president 6 percent of the time. He highlighted that the analysis showed Boyle voting with Trump nearly 14 percent of the time.”
Fetterman has strayed from Democratic Party orthodoxy on a couple of issues — ripping into convicted felon Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, contending that it’s not xenophobic to be concerned about the U.S. border with Mexico — but Fetterman’s most prominent deviation from party orthodoxy is his outspoken support for Israel since October 7, 2023. Fetterman can only be accurately labeled a “bad Democrat” if your litmus test for being a “good Democrat” is opposition to Israel.
From these three stories, it is increasingly clear that the Democratic Party that is taking shape in Trump’s second term is resolutely anti-Israel. We don’t know whether one of Fetterman’s primary challengers will oust him; the 2028 Democratic senatorial primary is a long way away. But it is likely that whoever challenges Fetterman will argue that he should no longer represent the Keystone State because he’s too supportive of Israel.
Jim Geraghty is the senior political correspondent of National Review.
Reprinted with permission from National Review by Jim Geraghty.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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