Residents of Ithaca have expressed concern and disagreement over Rep. Josh Riley’s (D) support for Israel amid Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war. Some residents believe Riley has not lived up to his commitment to fighting corruption in United States politics and have expressed frustration over his failure to address the genocide.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire that went into effect Oct. 10. As of Oct. 21, the ceasefire is still in effect, but there have been accusations of violating the deal from both Israel and Hamas. As of Oct. 21, Israel has killed at least 87 Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 11.

Riley represents New York’s 19th Congressional District and won his seat in the House of Representatives in the 2024 congressional election, which includes Tompkins County. 

In a September 2024 interview with The Ithacan, Riley said he believes the American-Israeli alliance is important and has argued for a negotiated settlement that would provide a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian assistance and remove Hamas from leadership in Palestine.

“From a policy perspective, I believe the American-Israeli alliance is critically important and that we as a country need to continue to stand with our allies around the world,” Riley said. “Israel is surrounded by terrorist organizations whose mission is to eliminate the Israeli state and we can’t allow that to happen.”

In August, eleven newly elected House Democrats, including Riley, went to Israel on a trip sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, an American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a bipartisan pro-Israel lobbying group, affiliated organization.

According to Track AIPAC, Riley has received $36,645 from the pro-Israel lobby. Track AIPAC is named after the AIPAC but also includes other pro-Israel lobbying groups like the Democratic Majority for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition in its tracking of donations.

Mary Anne Grady Flores, a member of Ithaca Catholic Worker, said the scale of the atrocities committed in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians has made it difficult for her to focus on local issues in Ithaca.

“If you can’t address a genocide, how can I expect you to work towards upholding our democracy and our U.S. Constitution?” Grady Flores said. “Genocide is the red line for the whole world.”

Riley was scheduled to attend a Policy Breakfast at Ithaca College in late August, along with Lea Webb, State Senator for the 52nd District of New York, Assemblywoman Anna Kelles and Tompkins County Legislative Chair Dan Klein. The breakfast was canceled due to safety concerns and social media posts from groups like Ithaca College Students for a Free Palestine that depicted the participants with bloody imagery and plans to protest the breakfast.

Senior Quincey Fireside, president of ICSFP, said ICSFP has never been a violent group and that the Instagram post depicting Riley and other participants with bloody imagery was intended to show the participants’ complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.

“There’s blood on [Riley’s] hands,” Fireside said. “He went to Israel. He’s supporting Israel financially. He’s being supported by Israel financially. He’s in a business that deals with murder because of that.”

One key aspect of Riley’s campaign was a commitment to fighting corruption and getting dark money out of politics. In the September 2024 interview with The Ithacan, Riley said he would not take any money from corporate Political Action Committees.

“I think the corruption is the most bipartisan thing in Congress,” Riley said. “I’m trying to do things differently, not taking corporate PAC money, and I’m going to crack down on the price gouging and hold all these folks accountable.”

While pro-Israel lobbying groups like AIPAC are not corporate PACs, they still are influential in U.S. politics. AIPAC was the third largest PAC in donations to candidates for federal office in the 2024 election cycle, where it spent money in 389 of the 469 congressional seats up for reelection.

New York District 19 was one of the most contested House of Representatives seats in an election where Republicans won the House with a slim majority of seats. The race in New York District 19 was one of the most expensive House races in the 2024 election, with there being over $38 million spent in the race for the district that spans from Tompkins County to the border between New York and Massachusetts.

In the 2024 congressional election, Riley beat the incumbent Republican Marc Molinaro with 51.1% of votes to 48.9% of votes. Riley had previously lost to Molinaro in the 2022 congressional election with 49.2% of the votes to 50.8% of the votes. Seats in the house of representatives are up for election every two years.

Shaianne Osterreich, professor in the Department of Economics at IC, said that since New York District 19 is a contested district, Riley could be following the median voter theorem, a concept that suggests that political candidates will adopt policies that appeal to the voter who is in the middle of their voter distribution in an attempt to maximize their possible votes.

“He’s probably presuming that Democrats are going to always prefer him over a Republican candidate,” Osterreich said. “So he is just taking the more progressive part of his district sort of for granted.”

In August, constituents of Riley, including some residents of Ithaca, traveled to his Binghamton office to protest his trip to Israel. Riley’s office was empty when the protesters arrived. The protesters hung up 100 photos of suffering Palestinians.

Community member Sriram Parasurama, who was a Cornell University graduate student that was de-enrolled from the university for his participation in a pro-Palestinian protest at a career fair, was part of the Binghamton protest. He said he questions if it is worth protesting Riley because he is not a source of the issue, but a symptom of larger systems like capitalism, settler colonialism and imperialism.

“We do have to take care of the symptoms of the disease just as much as we have to treat the disease itself,” Parasurama said. “And in treating the disease, there’s work like mutual aid. … Taking care of your neighbors is as revolutionary of an act as it is to protest at a court exporting weapons.”

Fireside said they think it is worth holding representatives like Riley accountable because they have access to representatives since they represent a smaller group of people than senators and the president.

“I can’t get an audience with Donald Trump, certainly not one where he’s going to be listening to what I have to say about complex global policy issues,” Fireside said. “But if I can get an audience with the congressman from the 19th District of New York state and convince him and show him how serious this is and how much his constituents care, he can go back to Washington [D.C.] and share that story.”

Assistant News Editor Julian DeLucia and Senior Writer Ryan Johnson contributed reporting.