By James J. Devine
In 2018, New Jersey voters delivered a political shockwave when Lisa McCormick, an unheralded progressive Democrat, challenged Senator Bob Menendez in the Democratic primary. With no party endorsement, little money, and no national backing, McCormick stunned the establishment by winning nearly 40 percent of the vote.
That staggering figure reflected more than just a protest vote—it was a referendum on a status quo that had grown morally bankrupt. McCormick ran on a platform of principle, calling for transparency, economic justice, and a foreign policy rooted in international law and human rights. She has never wavered from those convictions.
Today, Lisa McCormick continues to be one of the most consistent and morally grounded voices in New Jersey politics.
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalates, and as Israel faces credible accusations of genocide, McCormick has not hesitated to speak the truth that many elected officials refuse to acknowledge.
She has demanded an immediate halt to U.S. military aid to Israel, arguing that American taxpayer dollars must never be used to arm regimes committing atrocities. Her position is not fringe—it is aligned with the majority of Democratic voters and increasingly supported by a broad coalition of humanitarian and human rights organizations.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières, and a United Nations-appointed special committee have all concluded that Israel’s conduct in Gaza may constitute genocide or genocidal acts.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice declared it “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, adding legal weight to what humanitarian workers on the ground have been documenting for months.
In stark contrast stands Cory Booker, New Jersey’s junior U.S. Senator, whose public statements are marked by contradiction and opportunism.
While he issues platitudes about ending starvation and suffering, Booker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, repeatedly voted to continue sending billions in weapons to the Israeli government, which is using them in a military campaign that has razed hospitals, bombed refugee camps, and decimated civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
Booker voted against two resolutions proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders, who wants to block the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of bombs and assault rifles less than a week after he declared that, “Witnessing the catastrophic hunger and suffering of civilians, especially children, women, the sick and elderly, in Gaza has been heartbreaking.”
Booker offered a damning critique of “incidents where American citizens have been killed,” stating, “Prime Minister Netanyahu and his ultra-right-wing coalition government have failed to hold perpetrators accountable—with some members even inciting such violence—and have failed to take action to prevent these kinds of attacks from occurring.”
“One day, Booker tweets about ending famine and protecting innocent lives; the next day, he votes to fund the bombs responsible for the starvation, then he asserts that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for killing Americans,” said McCormick. “That did not stop him from appearing in photos with the accused war criminals.”
“It’s no secret that if you want to call yourself a progressive, you are expected to uphold progressive values and do so consistently,” said Peace Action’s Executive Director Jon Rainwater. “Everyone knows that if you support racist or sexist policies, people won’t believe you when you call yourself a progressive. Everyone knows if you oppose basic environmental protections, people won’t consider you a progressive. It is the same with human rights, including opposing the continued egregious oppression of the Palestinian people.”
“In a just world, every one of these Democratic senators would be primaried — especially the hypocritical Cory Booker, who is wisely trying to hide his face in this picture,” said Mehdi Hasan, who pointed out that Booker was standing behind another senator in photos posted online.
Others excoriated the New Jersey lawmaker for accepting money from pro-Israel US lobby groups, appearing with Netanyahu, and supplying the means he’s using to exterminate the Palestinian population while claiming to oppose inhumane conditions in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the arrest of Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November. Since then, Booker has posed for pictures with both war criminals, although he appears to be hiding behind others in the photographs with the prime minister.
Yet Booker has taken no action to stop arming this same government, even as international observers raise alarms over war crimes. He is trying to have it both ways: publicly wringing his hands about the horrors of war while privately sustaining the machinery that makes them possible.
Booker’s inconsistencies extend beyond his votes. He has cultivated deep financial relationships with powerful interests tied to pro-Israel lobbying organizations, including AIPAC, from which he has accepted nearly $1 million in campaign contributions. It is difficult to square this funding with moral clarity.
Booker once spoke out for the oppressed, stood up for civil rights, and claimed to put humanity above politics. But his track record in the Senate—especially on foreign policy—betrays those values.
His alliance with military contractors and foreign lobbying groups has eroded his credibility among progressive voters and has drawn fierce rebuke from former allies, including Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who once considered Booker a friend and partner.
Boteach now says, “Cory’s word is a bounced check. He almost always takes it back, and his commitment is not worth very much.”
Progressive Democrat Lisa McCormick, by contrast, has never taken a dime from weapons manufacturers or foreign influence groups. She stands with those who believe that U.S. foreign policy must reflect American values—freedom, justice, and respect for international law.
She supports enforcing existing statutes like Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits arms sales to governments engaged in gross violations of human rights.
That includes Israel under Netanyahu, as well as Saudi Arabia and other authoritarian regimes that the United States continues to arm despite overwhelming evidence of war crimes.
“The position of the Israeli government is unacceptable, and Americans will not remain silent,” said McCormick. “Should we remain indifferent to the sight of mothers and fathers carrying their dead newborns in their arms? Should we remain indifferent to the sight of children at risk of dying of hunger?”
McCormick understands that peace cannot be achieved through firepower, and that unconditional military support is not solidarity—it is complicity.
While Booker tries to dance between constituencies and manage his political image, McCormick is stating clearly what international law demands: no more weapons for war criminals. No more blank checks for genocide. No more bipartisan excuses.
If Democrats want credibility on human rights, they need leaders like Lisa McCormick, who don’t just talk about justice, but live, legislate, and defend justice without compromise.
The future demands moral clarity, not political cowardice. New Jersey and the world deserve nothing less.
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