The first quarter of the inaugural, hour-long debate between Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and former New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who is running to unseat Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District, focused on Israel, a subject that has become a litmus test in Democratic politics.

Both Jewish men, who are facing off in a hotly contested race with the primary slated for June 23, describe themselves as liberal Zionists and progressive Democrats. They differ strongly on particulars.

Goldman participated in the Israel Day on Fifth parade on Sunday, which reportedly drew 50,000 participants. “I was proud to march in the Israel Day parade to celebrate the nation and the State of Israel, a Jewish and democratic state that is distinct from its government,” he said.

Lander sat out the parade, as did his supporter Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, who broke with 60 years of precedent for a city mayor by boycotting the pro-Israel event.

Lander said that there are “profound differences” between him and Goldman. The former comptroller said that “while Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, violating Palestinian human rights, I believe we should not be sending additional U.S. military aid to Israel.”

“I have been fighting against the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza since 1990 and have never heard him say the word ‘occupation’ ” Lander said, of Goldman.

Both men say that they oppose the BDS movement to boycott Israel, but Lander said that he understands the recent vote of the Park Slope Food Coop to boycott Israeli products. Constituents are “looking for some way to voice their anger” over the Palestinian plight, he said during the debate.

“What happens in Gaza is horrific, but this is not the way” to change it, Goldman said. “The BDS movement was founded on the principle that Israel should not exist, and a boycott won’t impact Israeli foreign policy.”

Goldman said that although he was “proud” to take part in the Israel parade in Manhattan, he “strongly” opposes the “government of Benjamin Netanyahu and was unaware that Bezalel Smotrich, one of the most radical extremists, also attended uninvited.”

Smotrich is the Israeli finance minister. Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Letitia James, attorney general of New York, decried the minister’s participation on May 31. Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, previously told JNS that the “left wing always talks of unity, yet hypocritically they fight to harm unity by wishing to exclude an elected and effective Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.”

Goldman said at the debate, of Smotrich’s participation, that “I was unaware of that and I am incredibly disappointed that this occurred, because I have called for his removal.” He added that he has called for Smotrich to be sanctioned.

Lander, who wasn’t planning to march in the Israel parade anyway, said that “I won’t be marching in the Israel Day parade alongside ministers in Netanyahu’s government like Bezalel Smotrich, a war criminal who called it moral and just to starve Palestinians.”

‘Neither skills nor experience, nor seniority’

Lander ran unsuccessfully for mayor last year. He is seeking to unseat an incumbent who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023 and serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Homeland Security. He was previously lead counsel for the first impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump.

A debate moderator on the cable station NY1, which broadcast the debate, said that the district is 20% Jewish.

The district in question covers lower Manhattan, where Goldman lives, including Chinatown and the West Village. It also covers parts of Brooklyn, including Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, where Lander lives, and Sunset Park, which has a large concentration of immigrant residents, especially from China.

During the debate, the candidates made the difference in their styles clear. Lander focuses on building coalitions and direct action to effect political change, while Goldman said that only he has the experience to work effectively in Congress. Lander “has neither the skills nor experience nor the seniority” to do so, he said.

The two sparred over taxing the city’s wealthiest residents.

Goldman said that Lander “likes to say he supports taxing the rich in the city, but when he was running for mayor, he opposed it.”

“He flip-flops and cannot be trusted,” the congressman said.

While discussing creating more affordable housing in the district, Goldman said he was centrally involved in passing a tax credit for people with low income, which will result in New York building 70% more totally affordable housing. He highlighted his experience working with low-income residents, developers and city officials and said that’s why tenants associations at the 31 public housing projects in the district have endorsed him.

“It is possible to help, but only if you start with real conversations with neighbors,” Lander said. “That’s the kind of leadership I’ve been bringing, and you can see it with your own eyes” in housing recently built in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood, he said.

When Goldman spoke about the Brooklyn Marine Terminal development project, Lander asserted that he never backed it. “That’s the problem with Brad Lander. He will tell you one thing behind closed doors and then say something the opposite,” Goldman said. “He is a liar.”

Lander has focused on Goldman’s wealth, inherited from the family that founded Levi-Strauss, in an effort to portray the incumbent as rich and beholden to special interests, including cryptocurrency and AIPAC.

“I do think it’s offensive when multi-millionaires seek to buy elections,” Lander said. “Democracy is supposed to be regular people.”

The wealthiest Americans pay the least in taxes, according to Goldman.

“They have their money in assets and stock, and rather than sell the stock to pay for their yachts they borrow against it to pay for them,” he said. “My bill would tax those loans. That’s the way to structurally change things and generate $30 billion” to pay for projects including Medicare for all, he said.

“Congress is the place to make big structural change. The Robin Hood Act has traction among Republicans,” he said. “I am on record supporting taxes that would impact me.”

Lander described the Robin Hood Act as a vehicle for Goldman’s self-promotion. “His Robin Hood Act is so he can put a mailer in your mailbox,” Lander charged.

Immigration

The men also disagreed over who is more effective at fighting against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE officers have become a regular presence at the federal building in lower Manhattan, where immigrants go to immigration court for scheduled hearings and adjudications. Critics say that even when immigrants follow correct procedures, masked ICE agents can take them into custody, often violently, and send them to far-away detention centers, separating them from their families. The Trump administration has said that federal immigration officers target those who break the law, often violently.

Both candidates said that they want to abolish ICE.

Goldman goes to immigration court and has established a “triage center” in his office, which overlooks the federal building, the congressman said. The center has attorneys and others who quickly help immigrants and their family members file legal petitions to stop the detentions and deportations.

So far, 39 immigrants have been released from detention after receiving help at the center, according to Goldman. “I have been leading the fight against ICE to protect our neighbors and actually make a difference for our community members,” he said. “I introduced the bill to unmask ICE and to prohibit arrests at court.”

“You will hear Brad talk about putting his body on the line, but he isn’t actually doing anything to free immigrants,” Goldman said.

Lander also goes regularly to the immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza and has been arrested for trying to protect immigrants in the hallways, the former comptroller said.

“I go to bear witness and yes, putting our bodies on the line is how you make change,” he said at the debate.

Goldman touted a recent achievement in Congress. As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, “I got Kristi Noem to admit that she was violating the law by deporting people in the process of immigration,” he said.

Noem served as U.S. secretary of homeland security from January 2025 until March 2026, when Trump fired her.