New PAC Launches to Boost Pro-Israel Democrats in New York

PACs run by pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and Democratic Majority for Israel have been a pivotal force in national Democratic politics for years, funneling millions into US congressional elections — and defeating incumbent and insurgent candidates alike. But the new Solidarity PAC appears to be the first committee to explicitly back New York state-level candidates who, according to its website, “value the American alliance with Israel.”

The website invites visitors to make donations to be split among candidates the PAC endorses, and the candidates’ webpages note whether their opponents are endorsed by the DSA or WFP. It backs the Hudson Valley incumbent Assemblymember Didi Barrett, one of the chamber’s more conservative Democrats, who is facing a formidable challenge from Claire Cousin, a WFP-endorsed nonprofit director. Another candidate’s page states that his challenger is a “Jamaal Bowman organizer.”

The PAC’s registration document, filed in February, shows that Solidarity PAC is operated by officials involved in the New York Solidarity Network, a 501(c)(4) dark money nonprofit that describes itself as a “membership organization for New Yorkers who have a tight-knit relationship with Israel personally and politically.”

New York Solidarity Network’s executive director, Sara Forman, is the PAC’s treasurer, and her organizational email address appears in the registration document. Forman is a former fundraiser for the influential Democratic PAC EMILYs List who frequently rails against the left flank of the Democratic Party on social media.

“Progressives are the MAGA of the Democratic Party,” she tweeted in December. “The DSA doesn’t belong in the ‘big tent’ of the @TheDemocrats anymore and it’s time party leaders show them the exit,” she wrote in another tweet.

Republican operative Nathan Parsons-Schwarz, the Solidarity Network’s most recently listed treasurer, is also registered as a Solidary PAC official. He’s worked for the College Republican National Committee; Republican former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson; and the Republican parties of Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In 2022, the New York Solidarity Network paid his political consulting firm, Allegiance Strategies, around $300,000 for consulting and fundraising services, according to tax filings.

Neither Forman nor Parsons-Schwarz claimed residential addresses in New York: Forman listed a New Jersey residence, while Parsons-Schwarz listed one in Virginia.

Real estate magnate Hal Fetner, CEO of Fetner Properties and a member of the influential Real Estate Board of New York, is also listed as someone “who exert[s] operational control over the PAC.”

As of publication, Forman and Parsons-Schwarz did not respond to multiple attempts to contact them, including by phone, text, and email. Fetner did not respond to an email request for comment.

The New York Solidarity Network has been operating since at least 2021 and entered the public eye the following year, when The New York Times revealed that it was backed by hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb. Former New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is one of its senior advisers.

The group has published a “wall of shame,” a list of elected officials and advocacy groups it claims are “justifying Hamas terrorism,” and prompts visitors to scold them via tweet. The list includes Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, state Senator Jabari Brisport, the New York City DSA, and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, whose listed offense is holding a paper sign that reads “Ceasefire.”

The network has employed Democratic and Republican strategists alike, Jewish Currents reported in 2022, even as its focus has been on Democratic elections. A recent job posting from the group says that it “provides an easy, accessible way to help pro-Israel voters and donors make an informed decision about who they would support in an election.”