The war in Gaza, relations with Israel, and the war in Iran were at the center of one of the sharpest exchanges Thursday night between incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins in their Georgia Senate debate.
Ossoff, Georgia's first Jewish US senator, was asked directly whether he believed Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. The question came one day after the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre and referenced criticism he has faced from some members of Atlanta's Jewish community after voting to block an arms shipment to Israel.
Ossoff did not answer yes or no.
"The question of genocide is a question of whether a government has the specific intent to destroy a national or ethnic group, and that is a question for the International Criminal Court," Ossoff said. "There is no doubt in my mind that Israeli forces prosecuting the war in Gaza violated the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law."
"I care deeply about the security of the Israeli people, among whom are members of my family," he continued. "I also care about innocent Palestinian life and make no apology for my votes."
Moderator Rick Folbaum also asked Ossoff whether he was alarmed by growing anti-Israel sentiment within the Democratic Party and whether he would vote yes or no on the administration's latest $2.8 billion weapons package for Israel. Ossoff did not directly answer either question during his response.
Instead, he attacked Collins over his support for sanctioning and defunding the International Criminal Court.
"His view is that there should not be accountability for crimes against humanity no matter who commits them," Ossoff said.
Collins: 'He talks one way, and he votes another way'
Collins responded with a sharp political and personal attack, tying Ossoff to figures on the left wing of the Democratic Party.
"Jon Ossoff has been out there and recruited support and endorsed this Abdul El-Sayed. He hates Israel, loves Iran. That's his pick," Collins said, referring to the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan.
He also mentioned Hasan Piker and accused Ossoff of moving "as far left as he can go."
"He talks one way, and he votes another way," Collins said.
The exchange then shifted immediately to antisemitism and extremism. Folbaum asked Collins about his son-in-law, described in the question as a white supremacist social media influencer, and about members of Collins's staff who had been linked to racism and antisemitism.
"I've condemned racism, antisemitism, hate. I don't care where the source is," Collins said. "It's wrong. We have no place in this world for that."
Ossoff fired back, alleging that "neo-Nazi propaganda is disseminated to an audience of millions from your home."
He also accused Collins's office of intervening at the Justice Department on behalf of a Holocaust denier and of working with white supremacists. Those were allegations made by Ossoff during the debate.
Ossoff on Iran war: 'We were lied into' it
Another major point of disagreement was the war in Iran.
Ossoff repeatedly attacked Collins for supporting the conflict, saying the congressman had "voted seven times for the war in Iran." Early in the debate, Ossoff linked the war to higher gas and diesel prices in Georgia and later said the United States should "end this disastrous war in Iran."
He sharpened that criticism later in the debate.
"It's been a disaster, and so has this war, a war, by the way, that we were lied into," Ossoff said. "They told us last year that they'd obliterated Iran's nuclear program. This year, they told us it posed an imminent threat."
"So on top of the tariffs now we have eight months of war, 18 Americans killed in action, hundreds wounded, Iran still has its uranium, Iran still has its drones and missiles, diesel's at an all-time high, unleaded gas is at four dollars."
Ossoff returned to the issue while discussing US service members.
"When I talk to military families across the state, they want to know that their government is being honest with them about why we go to war," he said. "This war has been a disaster. Eighteen Americans have been killed. Hundreds have been wounded. The president declared victory on day four of this conflict."
Collins, by contrast, defended Trump's decision to go to war.
"The president had every right to go in there and make sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon," Collins said. He argued that the International Atomic Energy Agency had already sounded alarms that Iran was close to obtaining one.
"Iran doesn't only want to decimate and kill Israel. They want us as well," Collins said. "We've been at war with this regime for 47 years. They've been killing American service members for 47 years. And they were this close to getting a nuclear weapon, and they would have used it."
The contrast between the two candidates returned in their closing statements. Ossoff again said Collins had "voted seven times for the war in Iran," while Collins portrayed Ossoff as aligned with figures on the Democratic left who, he argued, held hostile views toward Israel.
The debate was the first televised meeting between the two ahead of the November 3 midterm election. Ossoff has served in the Senate since 2021, while Collins, a Republican member of the House, is seeking to unseat him and flip the seat to the GOP.
The debate was held in the Atlanta area, moderated by Rick Folbaum and broadcast across Georgia by Gray Media.