Congressional candidate Mondaire Jones (D., N.Y.) said Wednesday that a "land swap" in the West Bank is necessary for Israel to secure peace through a two-state solution. The former congressman also suggested that Israeli settlements there should be dismantled and called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's expansion in the region "inappropriate."
During a Wednesday night debate, CBS News moderator Marcia Kramer asked if Jones believes Israel's borders need to return to what they were prior to the 1967 Six Day War, which secured the Jewish state the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Such a move would revoke land internationally recognized as belonging to Israel, weakening the nation.
"In an early position paper, you favored a two-state solution, a return to pre-1967 borders, which could affect Israeli settlements," Kramer said. "You also called for Jerusalem to be the capital of both Israel and the Palestinian state. Do you still believe that, and what's your solution to the Mid-East crisis?"
"I stand with Israelis and Palestinians who want to see a lasting peace and security in the region. That includes a two-state solution," Jones responded. "Part of that has to involve some kind of land swap. That is negotiated in the form of diplomacy."
Kramer asked him to clarify if that means some Israeli settlements would have to be dismantled.
"In the West Bank?" Jones said. "Settlement expansion under Bibi Netanyahu has been inappropriate, yes. If that's the question that's being asked of me."
Jones's Republican opponent, Rep. Mike Lawler, interjected, noting that Jones "previously said 1967. Is that what you want to go back to? Before 1967?"
Jones declined to answer, instead saying, "Listen, there has to be a negotiated agreement between Israelis and Palestinians that arrives at a two-state solution."
Kramer pressed him again on whether that meant returning to pre-1967 borders. Jones said that was up to Israelis and Palestinians.
"I'm baffled, truly," Lawler told Jones. "You just said you were a staunch supporter of Israel, and yet you are calling for a negotiated settlement and land swaps. Are you out of your mind?"
In a paper, which Jewish Insider published in 2020, Jones argued that by "re-establishing the pre-1967 borders and swapping land for settlements, Israel can create a more secure and stronger border while also allowing Palestinians their own homeland. To achieve this end, Israel must stop building settlements in the West Bank and demolishing Palestinian homes."
"Settlements prevent the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian homeland and undermine Palestinian faith in Israel's commitment to a two-state solution," Jones continued. "In a two-state solution, Jerusalem must be recognized as a capital for both the Israelis and the Palestinians."
The Israel-Hamas war has been a top issue in New York's 17th Congressional District, where Jones is challenging Lawler. Jones, who was first elected to Congress in 2020, lost his 2022 primary after transplanting himself out of the Lower Hudson Valley and into Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan.
Jones has bled support since surviving a short-lived primary race against Liz Whitmer Gereghty, the sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D.). He endorsed George Latimer, Rep. Jamaal Bowman's (D., N.Y.) successful, pro-Israel Democratic primary challenger, citing Bowman's incendiary positions on the Israel-Hamas war. As a result, progressive groups, including the Working Families Party and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, pulled their financial and organizational resources from Jones and rescinded their endorsements.
Jones also accused local union leaders of "turning their backs on pro-labor candidates" after they backed Lawler. In turn, the Transport Workers Union of America's leader called Jones a "whining district-flopping no-show." Jones has failed to secure support from national and local unions that represent boilermakers, electrical workers, plumbers, and steamfitters, a reversal from 2022, when those unions backed Lawler's Democratic opponent. Lawler also scored tens of thousands of dollars more in union donations than Jones.
In his latest bid for elected office, Jones has attempted to moderate the progressive positions that he held during his 2020 campaign. For example, during the Wednesday debate, Lawler accused Jones of calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents terrorists and wanting to defund the agency. Jones shook his head in disagreement and said, "That's not true."
But in 2019, as Jones was running for his first term in Congress, railing against ICE was central to his campaign. He repeatedly said ICE "terrorizes" New Yorkers and condemned the agency as a "racist institution." He criticized his party for funding ICE with $1.4 billion and said the funding is cause for "soul-searching."
"ICE is terrorizing communities right here in NY-17," Jones wrote in July 2019. "Contributing members of our society—friends, neighbors, loved ones, service providers—shouldn't live in fear of being thrown out of this country. They deserve our compassion."
Last month, however, Jones promised to fund ICE in support of their efforts to keep Americans safe.
"He believes that ICE plays an important role in keeping our border secure and Americans safe," Jones spokeswoman Shannon Geison told Politico. "Unlike Mike Lawler, Mondaire supported record levels of funding for border security while in office and will continue to advocate for more resources when he returns to office."
The former congressman further distanced himself from Democrats following the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump. As many in the party called for unity, Jones pushed back.
"I won't be gaslit into not calling Trump and Vance threats to democracy," Jones wrote. "Trump says he wants to 'terminate' the Constitution. Vance says he would've overturned the 2020 election."
Jones's campaign did not return a request for comment.