The two major-party candidates running in one of the most competitive congressional contests in this fall’s midterm elections expressed support for Israel and endorsed a two-state solution in their only debate this fall.
The race in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District between two-term Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) and Democratic challenger Rebecca Bennett, a former U.S. Navy pilot, is among the races Democrats need to flip to win control of the House in the midterms in November. They need to capture three Republican-held seats to gain a majority.
The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, two Washington-based publications that rate congressional races, give Bennett a slight edge. The New Jersey Globe and Rider University sponsored the debate on Sunday.
Kean said the United States had to have Israel’s back “in every single way.” Bennett was critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“What the Netanyahu administration is doing is not in the best long-term interests of Israel, just like what I think the Trump administration is doing is not in the best long-term interests of the United States,” she said.
Kean said he supports Israel’s prosecution of its war against the Hamas terror organization.
“Israel is absolutely justified in what it is doing in response to those October attacks,” he said. “We need to have their back in every single way. It’s not just that they need to be able to defend themselves. They need to be able to win this war.”
Kean was also unequivocal when asked about limiting weapons sales to Israel and sending U.S. troops there if necessary.
“I will do everything in my power to help Israel win this fight, and they are completely justified in what they’re doing,” he said. “Right now, there are terrorists in that country who are still trying to kill innocent Israeli people.”
Bennett said that she would hold Israel to the same standard as all other U.S. allies and that Congress needs to act before any American forces are sent off to war. Lawmakers have failed to pass a resolution authorizing the use of military force since 2001, she said.
She said that Washington must try diplomacy first and use troops as “the absolute last resort.”
“We are still operating under the 2001 authorization of use of military force, because Congress has been too afraid to vote on sending our service members to go to war,” Bennett said.
“That is the very bare minimum we should be asking of our elected officials,” she said, “to take a vote on this if we’re going to go put our service members in harm’s way.”
Both candidates also condemned Jew-hatred. New Jersey recorded the third most antisemitic incidents in the Anti-Defamation League’s 2025 annual audit, behind only New York and California.
“We need to stand up to antisemitism in this country,” Kean said. He decried Bennett for not criticizing opponents of Israeli policies, including in New Jersey.
If elected, Bennett would join a state congressional delegation that includes at least one and likely two fellow New Jersey Democrats who have accused Israel of “genocide.”
Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-N.J.) won her seat in a special election, and Adam Hamawy, a surgeon and U.S. Army veteran with connections to “blind sheikh” Omar Abdel-Rahman, is strongly favored to win another.
“She won’t stand up to her own party to stand up against antisemitism or stand with people of Israel,” Kean said of Bennett.
In response to another question, Bennett said she would not support another prominent Israel critic, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), for president. Kean said he wouldn’t either.
Bennett told the story of a fellow New Jersey mother who was afraid to send her child on a field trip to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington because of Jew-hatred.
“Antisemitism is absolutely unacceptable—period full stop,” she said. “I will do everything to fight back against antisemitism in this country.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we are pushing back against this and also to make sure we’re getting the funding that we need, because everyone should be safe and feel safe in this country,” she said.
