Congress’ Progressive Israel Critics Face A Wave Of Primary Threats

Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), a group that boosts pro-Israel Democrats and seeks to oust the Jewish State’s most strident critics within the party, launched a six-figure TV ad buy attacking Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Thursday.

The 30-second spot ― the first big-money salvo related to the Israel-Hamas War ― faults Tlaib for refusing to: vote for U.S. funding for Israel’s defensive Iron Dome technology; sign on to a congressional statement condemning Hamas’s terrorism; or, the ad alleges, even condemning Hamas’s attack verbally.

“Tell Rashida Tlaib she’s on the wrong side of history and humanity,” the narrator concludes as the phone number for her office appears on screen.

Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American in Congress, said in an Oct. 8 statement, “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day.” She later said, “Targeting civilians is a war crime, no matter who does it.”

But DMFI and other pro-Israel critics wanted her to condemn Hamas by name and sign on to a resolution condemning the militant group. She has said that she voted against the resolution condemning Hamas, because it failed to mention what she sees as the callous Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians, or address what she sees as root causes of the violence, like the 16-year Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Since her first victory in 2018, Tlaib has never had a tough reelection battle. And after redistricting, her district now includes all of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, which have the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country.

It’s unclear whether DMFI’s ad blitz is the start of a larger effort to dislodge Tlaib in a primary.

“We believe that she is radically out of step with the Democratic Party and its platform, and we think it’s important for our constituents to know that,” said Mark Mellman, the president of DMFI.

Tlaib’s allies see it as a form of punishment for anyone who dares to suggest that Israel deserves anything other than unconditional support as it responds to the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history.

“They’re spending it in her district right now to incite harassment against her,” said Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, a left-wing group that has helped elect Tlaib and her allies in the progressive “Squad” bloc of House members. “They’re trying to sow discord and division amongst the electorate there.”

Whether pro-Israel groups plan to actually have a run at Tlaib in a primary, the attack ad is one of a series of moves by pro-Israel groups aimed at either defeating or punishing the most strident Israel critics in Congress. Those steps speak to an emerging civil war in Democratic ranks over U.S. policy in Israel and the Palestinian territories that could complicate Democrats’ plans to take back the House as a unified bloc.

United Democracy Project — a super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbying group — has begun running ads attacking Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Summer Lee (Pa.).

And Mainstream Democrats PAC, a super PAC bankrolled by Democratic mega-donor Reid Hoffman, is considering backing primary challenges against Tlaib and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), CNBC reported on Thursday. Dmitri Mehlhorn, a senior advisor to Mainstream Democrats, told HuffPost by text message that their top primary targets are Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) because of his indictment, Tlaib because of her comments on Israel-Palestine, and Bush because of her support for “defunding” the police.

Mehlhorn also faults Tlaib for warning President Joe Biden that Palestinian and Muslim Americans “will remember where [he] stood.” A number of Arab American activists and leaders in Michigan have promised not to vote for Biden because of his unwavering support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza, which has killed nearly 9,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children.

“We just want to provide support in primaries to people who make the Democratic Party more coherent, electable, reasonable,” Mehlhorn wrote to HuffPost.

Meanwhile, primary candidates did not wait for major pro-Israel groups to get involved to highlight their pro-Israel bona fides. Bhavini Patel, a moderate borough councilwoman in the Pittsburgh area who is challenging Lee, has already made her support for Israel a point of contrast with Lee, Jewish Insider reported in mid-October. The outlet also reported that former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels, who nearly unseated Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on an anti-crime platform in 2022, is spoiling for a rematch.

National groups and donors are likely to play the biggest role in determining whether these primary challenges are serious, but it’s clear that some of the energy behind the bids is coming from local Jewish constituents who are frustrated by what they see as their representatives’ failure to stand by Israel in its fight against terrorism.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer (D), who has been entertaining the idea of running against Bowman for months now, reports renewed interest in his bid. Latimer said he had received a letter from 26 rabbis in Westchester County ― from the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox denominations ― encouraging him to run. He also gave a rousing pro-Israel speech at a Reform synagogue following the Hamas attack that was received very warmly.

“What’s happened in Israel has made this a more heightened situation to be sure,” said Latimer, who is himself a Roman Catholic. “The people who feel strongly, feel very strongly. And let me also say that this is not just a thin band of people in the Jewish community.”

Grassroots mobilization is also fueling some of the enthusiasm for a primary challenge against Bush in St. Louis.

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, a Black elected official with roots in the mainstream branch of the police and criminal justice reform movement, dropped out of the Senate race on Tuesday to take on Bush in the solidly Democratic House seat.

Bell announced a list of 156 endorsements on Friday from local elected officials and community leaders, including many Jewish activists and clergy, such as Rabbi Susan Talve.

And while some pro-Israel activists and groups have not yet formally rallied behind Bell, they are vocal in their rejection of Bush and commitment to ousting her in the Democratic primary. More than thirty Jewish organizations, synagogues and schools in the St. Louis area, many of which have never weighed in on local politics, signed a letter Wednesday condemning Bush for claiming in a social media post on Sunday that Israel is engaged in “ethnic cleansing.” The signatories argued that Bush’s remarks “incites anger and the potential of further violence toward the Jewish community.”

Former state Rep. Stacey Newman, a Jewish Democratic activist from the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights, has not yet endorsed in the race, but describes Bell as a “friend,” and the “only one at this point who’s stepping up to support the Jewish community.”

“She won’t be the nominee,” added Newman, who was recently drawn out of the district. “I’m going to do my best to make sure she’s not.”

Tension between broadly pro-Israel Democrats, and Democrats who favor a more even-handed approach to Israelis and Palestinians, has been rising since at least the election of the original “Squad” members. Those members and the ones who have since joined them ― Reps. Tlaib, Omar, Bowman, Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) ― have been outspoken in their belief that the struggle of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation for political rights and equality is an extension of the global fight against racism, colonialism and oppression. These lawmakers and their allies have helped mainstream ideas that pro-Israel groups see as radical and misguided, such as placing stricter conditions on U.S. aid to Israel, or in Tlaib, Omar and Bush’s case, supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

Pro-Israel groups have pushed back with a tsunami of super PAC spending designed to defeat as many members they regard as anti-Israel as possible. In 2022, AIPAC joined DMFI in the big spending game, and came away with more than a few high-profile victories, including the unceremonious ouster of then-Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), a self-described progressive Zionist who is friends with Tlaib and introduced a bill restricting how Israel could use U.S. aid.

Justice Democrats and the progressive candidates with whom they align have seized on AIPAC’s endorsement in 2022 of more than 100 House Republicans who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results. They also note that some of AIPAC and DMFI’s biggest donors have given to Republicans.

“Groups like AIPAC are really funneling GOP dollars,” Rojas said. “The [Democratic] establishment is kind of standing by and letting them do this.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has previously said that he supports every incumbent in the House Democratic Caucus, including progressives facing threats from pro-Israel groups. When asked about the DMFI ad blitz and potential plans by others to target Democratic lawmakers, Jeffries declined to criticize the big-spending organizations.

“Outside groups are going to do what outside groups are going to do,” he said. “And House Democrats are going to continue to support each other.”

Democratic Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) shrugged the issue off.

“I always have an opponent, and I’ve been a Democrat for a long time,” Clyburn told HuffPost on Thursday. “There’s nothing wrong with Democrat against Democrat.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) declined to comment, citing congressional rules against discussing campaign matters in the U.S. Capitol buildings.

He noted, however, that the House on Wednesday rejected a Republican resolution to censure Tlaib for “antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol complex,” on the grounds that she had joined a Capitol protest for a cease-fire.

“I just don’t talk about politics and political ads here in this building,” Aguilar said. “We obviously had a strong show of support for Rashida yesterday.”

Rojas characterized plans to primary Tlaib, Bush, Bowman and other Squad members as an effort to undermine the views of rank-and-file Democrats, who, some polls say, support an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

“To say it’s disappointing is an understatement,” Rojas said. “It’s really scary for our democracy at this point.”

It is not entirely true though that the efforts to unseat Justice Democrats-backed members of Congress is simply a Republican stalking-horse operation.

The deadly Hamas terror attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis, the majority of which were civilians murdered in brutal fashion, was a radicalizing event for many Jews who carry with them ancestral memories of the Holocaust and other incidents of antisemitic persecution.

Jonathan Levy, who moved with his family to Larchmont, New York, from Brooklyn a couple years ago, describes himself as a lifelong Democrat who has never voted for a Republican in his life. He had been aware that Bowman was more critical of Israel than he liked, and left the House part of the ballot blank in November 2022.

After Oct. 7, Levy began to feel that Bowman, and the activist left with which he is aligned, were not adequately supportive of Israel.

“It was a terrorist attack on one of our allies ― the only democracy in the Middle East,” Levy said. “For a member who represents a seat that is 10-15% Jews and probably a higher percentage of the voting population, his response has been lame.”

He called Bowman’s office to register his outrage at Bowman’s decision not to sign on to a resolution condemning Hamas and supporting Israel. Bowman, like some other progressives, panned the resolution not for its condemnation of Hamas’ terror attack, but for failing to also mention the suffering of Palestinian civilians; the two-state solution; or “the urgent need for de-escalation and prevention of ground invasion nor any humanitarian efforts.”

Bowman has endured criticism from the Democratic Socialists of America for joining a trip to Israel with the progressive pro-Israel group, J Street. He has also voted to fund the defensive Iron Dome technology for Israel.

But some pro-Israel voters are seeking someone with a more black-and-white view of the current situation. Levy, who sees Israel’s military response as a warranted reaction to an “unprovoked” attack, is all in on Latimer ― or anyone else who runs against Bowman.

“The fire drill incident is extremely embarrassing,” he added. “And I think his excuse is bullshit.”

Bowman pulled a House office building fire alarm on Sept. 30 before leaving to cast his ballot on a spending bill to keep the government open. He has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of falsely pulling a fire alarm in D.C. court, but insists that it was an accident made as he was trying to hastily leave the building.

Latimer, a former state lawmaker who boasts never losing an election in his career, has said that there is also interest in his bid from business owners in the district and suggested that he would be a more under-the-radar lawmaker than Bowman.

“My style is not bombastic. I’m not going to be out there on the steps arguing with Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Latimer said. “My job, as I view it, is to be a good legislator, work on legislation.”

Why the indecision then? Latimer said he will reveal his choice some time after the county legislative elections and a trip to Israel sponsored by the Westchester Jewish Council in late November.

Latimer acknowledged though that he has heard from supporters of Bowman’s who warned him against mounting a divisive primary in a cycle when Democrats are trying to take back the House.

There are apparently many such supporters. In a constituent survey commissioned by Bowman’s House office, 82% of respondents said they approve of Bowman’s performance. Bowman has secured $26 million in federal funds for community projects in the past two fiscal years, and another $50 million for the next fiscal year.

Indeed, Latimer faces long odds in a June 2024 primary against Bowman for a host of reasons.

Nearly half of New York’s 16th Congressional District is in the northern Bronx, where Latimer has no name recognition. Since New York Democrats are in the process of challenging the current congressional maps, it’s unclear where the district’s final borders will be, leaving the possibility of a seat with even more of the Bronx. And Latimer, who is 69 and white, may find that Black and Latino voters, who make up a plurality of district residents, are especially resistant to the idea of him replacing a Black member of Congress.

Pro-Israel groups’ ripest target might be Bush, who had less than $20,000 in cash on hand as of the end of September. The private security service that Bush has hired to combat threats to her personal security has cost her campaign nearly $757,000 since she entered Congress in 2021. Bush married one of her security guards, Cortney Merritts, this past February, but her campaign has said that she has been in a relationship with him since before she ran for Congress.

Bush’s campaign declined to comment about the primary challenge from Bell, or about her campaign finances.

Under ordinary circumstances, Bush could count on allied organizations to help fill the gap with super PAC spending.

At least one such group has faced financial headwinds in recent months, however. Justice Democrats, a lean operation hit hard by the grassroots fundraising drought affecting many political organizations, laid off 12 of its 20 staff members in July and August.

Rojas told HuffPost however, that fundraising had picked up considerably during the Israel-Hamas War thanks to the group’s staunch support for a cease-fire and criticism of Israeli airstrikes.

“It’s no secret that we don’t have $25 million, or $100 million, or whatever our opponents are going to prepare to spend,” Rojas said. “And so we have to be, just as we always have, since the very beginning ― whether it was 2018 to now ― really strict and really disciplined with the resources that we spend and the time that we spend them.”

“Whatever staff and resources we have, we’re prepared to have [our candidates’] backs,” she added.

Arthur Delaney and Jonathan Nicholson contributed reporting.