By Yasmin Abrar

Republican Joe Hathaway, a candidate for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, gave a press conference for student journalists at the Princeton Summer Journal on July 29. As the former mayor of Randolph, New Jersey and a political science major at Yale University, Hathaway highlighted issues of affordability and safety as the core of his policies. 

His opponent, Congresswoman Analilia Mejia, was elected in April during a special election. Her policies mainly consist of increasing the minimum wage, universal healthcare and the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Hathaway, who prides himself on being a moderate Republican, previously blasted Mejia on social media for being a “far-left activist.” One topic where he and Mejia differ the most is on Israel and its actions in Palestine, which the United Nations has determined to be a genocide.

Mejia has been critical of Israel and has stated that it is committing war crimes in Gaza, while Hathaway has continuously supported Israel as an ally of the U.S. and told the Princeton Summer Journal that “Israel’s our lone Western ally in the Middle East.”

When asked about balancing Israel’s security within the Middle East and humanitarian concerns in Gaza, Hathaway said, “We can support our allies, we can make sure that they have the tools they need to protect themselves and defend themselves…. We can ensure that humanitarian aid flows, and we can make sure that Israel is able and has the right to defend itself.”

Hathaway explained that the district he is seeking to represent has a large Jewish population; he connected with them after the Hamas attack in 2023, when he was on the Randolph town council.

“There’s nothing that kind of prepares you for something like that, when you’re at the local level,” he said. “I remember very distinctly going over to one of the local synagogues in town, October 9th or 10th, maybe. And just being with the families there. And a lot of folks had families over in Israel that were missing or they weren’t sure,” Hathaway said.

That experience influenced his support for Israel, he explained.

“It’s my job to be here and to be with this community and to be supportive of them, staying with them.”