In June, George Latimer defeated incumbent U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman in a New York House race that hinged tightly on the former’s support for, and the latter’s criticism of, Israel. Bowman, who originally held a mainstream Democratic view on the issue of Israel–Palestine — that is to say, pro-Israel — changed his position to support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement and to recognize Israel’s actions in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 as genocide. That shift, which came after a trip to Israel–Palestine in 2021, was Bowman’s downfall. His criticism of Israel prompted the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to spend a record $14.5 million to oust him from the House of Representatives in a definitive Israel lobby victory.

To be clear: Bowman’s constituency was already very supportive of Israel. That is, his loss was not only the result of AIPAC lobbying; but it was nowhere near an anomalous case. Congress’ top six recipients of pro-Israel dollars in 2022 were Democratic centrists who defeated progressives critical of Israel. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American from Michigan, was censured last November for failing to immediately condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel. Rep. Cori Bush was also ousted from her seat, thanks in part to $8 million in AIPAC funding for her opponent.

That trend is indicative of a fundamental truth in American politics: there is no room for debate on Capitol Hill when it comes to the topic of Israel–Palestine. Anything less than full-chested support for Israel results in severe rebukes from colleagues, allegations of antisemitism, and the risk of losing one’s job, and worse. Twenty-seven states — which comprise about 78 percent of the U.S. population — have passed laws or policies that punish individuals, businesses, or organizations that engage in or promote boycotts of Israel. In other words, more than three in four Americans are not free to peacefully resist injustices committed by a foreign government.

On top of materially supporting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, the House of Representatives passed legislation in June to sanction the International Criminal Court. They did so for the simple reason that Prosecutor Karim Khan announced his decision to apply for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant — along with several top Hamas officials responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks.

And so, in further defiance of the international law it helped create, the U.S. places the right of Israel to defend itself (translation: “do whatever the hell it wants, when it wants, and without consequences”) above the rights of Palestinians to live without occupation, to self-determination, to have clean drinking water and adequate food, and to be free from acts of genocide.

That pro-Israel bias also extends to the executive branch. During the June 27 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, a question about the war in Gaza prompted the candidates to quarrel over who loves Israel the most. 

“The only thing I’ve denied Israel was 2,000-pound bombs,” President Biden said on stage. “We are the biggest producer of support for Israel of anyone in the world.”

 “The United States should let [Israel] go, and let them finish the job,” Trump responded.  “[President Biden] doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian.”

The new Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, is unlikely to break from President Biden’s policy of complete support for Israel if she wins the White House. Despite a more outspoken concern for the suffering of innocent Palestinians, she has provided similar words of support. 

“[The United States] support[s] Israel’s legitimate military objectives to eliminate the threat of Hamas,” Harris affirmed in December 2023. 

So, where are we now? Beyond a man who has a good chance of being the next president of the United States hurling around the term “Palestinian” as an insult, a 2023 Guardian analysis of campaign data showed that 82 percent of Congress members were more supportive of Israel than of Palestine, compared to 9 percent who were more supportive of Palestine and 8 percent who expressed mixed views. That is not consistent with the American public’s view of the region.

A 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that 55 percent of Americans held a positive view of Israel, while 41 percent had a negative view. It is worth noting, however, that the statistics get more complicated regarding specific Israeli and Palestinian governments, policies, societies, and vary significantly between age groups and political affiliations. The gulf between the American populace and its government on Israel–Palestine is further evidence of a fundamental flaw in American politics: we have, on so many issues, only the illusion of choice.

When Americans go to the ballot box, they have two meaningful options — that is, of course, unless they’re voting for increasingly common uncontested candidates. But whether we have a Democratic or a Republican House, Senate, or presidency has become irrelevant. Israel can break all the international laws and rules of war that it likes without fear of consequences because our government will support it without question.

There is only one solution to the problem we find ourselves in: vote for candidates outside of the two dominant parties. Republicans and Democrats do not offer a meaningful choice for voters, but third-party candidates do. On top of that, votes draining away from the major parties forces them to examine why voters are souring toward them, to listen to the constituents they represent, and to reconsider unpopular positions. It is the first step toward breaking us free from the monopoly Republicans and Democrats hold on electoral politics.

I am not shaming anyone voting for Kamala Harris as an alternative to Trump or imploring people to cast simple protest ballots. But for those who care about issues like Palestinian rights, for example, voting for Vice President Harris in spite of her clear refusal to bring consequences to the Israeli government for its abhorrent conduct sends the signal that she does not need to make meaningful change on that front to win you over. As long as lobbies work harder to guide politicians’ positions than voters do, we will be stuck without meaningful options. We have the power to change that; all we have to do is use it strategically.