Barghouti: The Palestinian question played a key role in the Democrats' victory in the US midterm elections

Democrats regained their majority in Congress

Preliminary results of the US midterm elections held on Tuesday showed victory for the Democratic Party in both chambers of Congress — the House of Representatives and the Senate. This became a serious political defeat for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which lost its majority. This is reported by the Anadolu agency citing American media.

Barghouti linked the election results to Gaza and Iran

Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, said on Wednesday that the Palestinian question 'played an important role' in the Republicans losing their majority in Congress. According to him, the election results reflected the consequences of the alliance between Trump, the Republican Party and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as 'providing cover for the continuation of Israel's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and its attacks on the occupied West Bank.'

War context provided in the publication

Anadolu cites figures that the agency characterizes as consequences of the war in Gaza: since October 8, 2023, according to these figures, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 176,000 wounded, and 90% of the territory's infrastructure has been destroyed. Netanyahu has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2024 on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These figures and assessments belong to the source; there is no independent verification within the publication.

The war with Iran as a second factor

Barghouti named the economic consequences of the war with Iran and the damage to the countries of the region and the global economy as another major factor in the elections. According to the agency, on February 28 the US and Israel launched an offensive against Iran, which, according to Tehran, led to the deaths of thousands of people; Iran in response attacked Israel and American military facilities in Arab countries. On June 18, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding and began negotiations, but they failed due to disagreements over guarantees of freedom of navigation and security in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Palestinian theme in the campaign

According to Barghouti's assessment, the Palestinian question 'was present in the elections in all regions of the US' against the backdrop of unprecedented public support for 'justice for the Palestinian cause,' which, in his words, became for broad segments of Americans 'a universal human issue.' Democratic candidates, as Anadolu notes, spoke out against Washington's support for Tel Aviv amid the war in Gaza and demanded an end to arms supplies to Israel. It should be taken into account that the assessment of the role of the Palestinian factor belongs to a Palestinian politician, not to an independent analysis of the election results; the preliminary voting results themselves are not yet final.