A Democrat seeking a state Assembly seat in heavily Jewish southern Brooklyn has filed petitions to run on a separate “Pro-Israel Party” ballot line to bolster his chances of winning.
Dem hopeful Joey Cohen Saban is trying to win back the seat occupied by first-term Republican incumbent Michael Novakh by trying to get on the ballot as both the Democratic Party’s candidate and also the nominee for a new one he is calling the Pro-Israel Party.
Saban said he has garnered enough local voter signatures for his new Pro-Israel Party to warrant an additional separate column in the 45th Assembly District race on November’s ballot.
“The line would provide a way for people to show support for Israel, to get the attention it deserves,” Saban told The Post. “There’s tremendous support for Israel in the district.
“Novakhov has supported people who are anti-Israel — it crosses the line,” added Saban, 31, a Brooklyn native and first-generation American and Sephardic Jew who works in his family’s real estate firm.
Saban said his Republican foe previously donated campaign funds to democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont who is a staunch critic of Israel.
The Dem candidate also called Novakhov the “George Santos of Sheepshead Bay” for switching political parties, noting that Novakhov is a Democrat-turned-Republican lawmaker, while Santos left the GOP to become an independent — although only after being expelled from the House over lying and fraud allegations.
“This Pro-Israel ballot line transcends politics,” Saban added.
But Saban’s effort is being heavily challenged Novakhov and his allies.
The Republican incumbent, a radio entrepreneur and Jew who was born under Communist rule in the former Soviet Union, challenged some of the signatures on his foe’s petitions, suggesting there were not enough valid ones to legally pave the way for the ballot move.
“Some signatures are not kosher,” Novakhov said.
The assemblyman said the new party was just a cynical ploy, anyways. to use the Israel-Hamas war to garner votes.
Paul Martinka
“Saban is using the situation in Israel to get more votes. It’s just a trick,” Novakhov said.
He said he’s a staunch supporter of Israel.
“I am Jewish. I support Israel as much as he does,” the assemblyman said.
Joey Cohen Saban
He claimed that even if Saban withstands the petition challenge to run on a Pro-Israel Party, it won’t impact the outcome.
Novakhov said he will prevail because constituents in the district encompassing Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, Manhattan Beach, Gravesend and Brighton Beach have rejected the Democratic Party’s leftward policies.