I have been a life-long Democrat and am a plaintiffs’ antitrust lawyer, having had a law firm in New York and London.  I also have a farm in Kenoza Lake and opened Toast restaurant in Jeff,  where I hosted an event for Josh Riley, actively supported his election, and offered to host meaningful fundraisers.

I met with Josh to discuss this, as I believe dialogue is key to moving things forward. Sadly, and much to my disappointment, I will not be supporting Josh going forward and indeed will need to focus resources on an alternative candidate, as Josh has abandoned his fundamental commitments or has been persuaded to ignore them.

His recent visit to Israel flies in the face of his alleged commitments to civil rights and representation for all.   It also is incredibly ironic that he suggested he is such an advocate for affordable and safe housing in Sullivan County, yet supports an authoritative government committing a genocide of an entire people while also taking away their homes and livelihoods. 

It appears he has forgotten his pledges.  Does he believe one group of people is better than another?  

It is further embarrassing that Josh’s seat on the Energy Committee has not enabled him to see the necessity of infrastructure for a people to survive—the Israeli government’s destruction of energy, water and other utilities harms the entirety of the Palestinian people and is entirely intentional. 

Josh’s recent comments on X solely blaming Hamas for the atrocities leading to the humanitarian crisis are either strategic to sidestep attaching to Israel’s role or incredibly naive.  As a fellow clerk in the Court of Appeals, I cannot imagine Josh to be naive.   Therefore, I must assume he is intentional in shielding Israel from any responsibilities, despite Israel’s continued and horrifically disproportionate response to October 7, and almost every other first-world country determining Israel is actively committing war crimes.  

Perhaps the most telling failure is Josh’s comment seeking shared values to move forward.  This is the equivalent of Trump saying there are good people on both sides in Charlottesville.  There are no shared values—I will never share a belief that committing another genocide is a way to a solution.   How does Josh? 

I had high hopes for Josh.  I am now both angry at myself and ashamed by our elected officials again.  Regrettably, it appears he has succumbed to the fate of every other common politician—giving up independent thinking for the dollar—in this case, the New Shekel.

Despite my feelings of disappointment and loss of respect for Josh, I reached out to him to try to understand his views and convince him to be brave enough to take a stand. Regrettably, our conversation resulted in more of the same, with him saying he respects the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace.  That statement is a non-statement and is what politicians say when they do not want to upset the applecart.  We all want peace; saying that is the easy part.  However, for that to happen, Israel must stop its genocide of the Palestinian people and recognize the rights of the Palestinian people to exist and live harmoniously.   Josh is uniquely positioned to say that, yet continues to choose not to, despite many other courageous politicians—Republicans and Democrats alike—doing so.  

In the absence of such, I find myself compelled to actively support the election of a new representative who is capable of being a representative for all, not just a lobbyist.  I encourage all community members, especially Democrats, to do the same. 

Michael Gallagher Jr. lives in Kenoza Lake, NY.