{"id":2231863,"date":"2024-04-28T05:22:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T09:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-israel-groups-ramp-up-efforts-to-oust-progressive-targets-over-gaza\/"},"modified":"2024-04-28T05:24:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T09:24:47","slug":"pro-israel-groups-ramp-up-efforts-to-oust-progressive-targets-over-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-israel-groups-ramp-up-efforts-to-oust-progressive-targets-over-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Israel organizations escalate campaigns to remove progressive figures regarding Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpro-israel-groups-ramp-up-efforts-to-oust-progressive-targets-over-gaza%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2231863&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pro-Israel groups step up \u200cefforts against progressive incumbents critical of U.S. support \u200bfor Israel and \u200cGaza.\u2064 Rep. Summer Lee\u200d (D-PA) of the &#8220;Squad&#8221; won\u200b her primary despite facing \u200ccriticism. Key groups \u2064like AIPAC\u200d and DMFI stayed out of\u2064 the race. Progressives \u2064celebrate Lee&#8217;s \u200dvictory as a test \u2062for future elections, with Rep.\u200b Cori Bush also becoming a target. Pro-Israel organizations escalate actions against \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-uncommitted-protest-vote-poised-to-be-warning-sign-for-biden-in-november\/\" title=\"Michigan's undecided protest vote could serve as a cautionary signal for Biden in the upcoming November election\">progressive lawmakers criticizing<\/a> U.S. support \u2062for \u200bIsrael \u2064and Gaza. \u2062Representative Summer Lee (D-PA) from the\u2062 &#8220;Squad&#8221; triumphed in\u200c her primary\u200d despite opposition. Major groups like AIPAC and DMFI chose \u2064not to intervene. Progressives view\u2063 Lee&#8217;s win as a pivotal moment for upcoming elections, while \u200cRepresentative Cori Bush emerges as a new focus for these groups.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Pro-Israel groups are ramping up efforts to target incumbent progressives who have criticized both Israel\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">military action<\/a> in Gaza and continued U.S. support for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Israel\">Israel<\/a>, even as the first member of the so-called \u201cSquad\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/2976894\/squad-member-summer-lee-survives-primary-challenge-pennsylvania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>survived<\/a> a primary challenge this week.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/2976894\/squad-member-summer-lee-survives-primary-challenge-pennsylvania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>defeated <\/a>moderate rival Bhavani Patel this week. Lee had been one of the earliest and most vocal critics of Israel\u2019s military response to the Oct. 7 attacks and represents a district with a significant Jewish population.`<\/p>\n<p>Lee\u2019s challenger focused on her views on Israel throughout the campaign, but the congresswoman was not a target of influential groups like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/aipac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)\">American Israel Public Affairs Committee<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/demmajorityforisrael.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"The Democratic Majority for Israel PAC (DMFI)\">Democratic Majority for Israel PAC.<\/a> Both groups opted to stay out of the primary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe hardest thing to do in politics is to defeat an incumbent member of the House. We didn\u2019t think Summer Lee was a particularly compelling target, and we were not active in that race for that reason,\u201d Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster and president and CEO of DMFI, said in an interview with the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While Lee did not face an avalanche of pro-Israel money in her race,\u00a0a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-supreme-court-rules-voter-referendums-cannot-repeal-tax-cuts-passed-by-legislature\/\" title=\"Arizona Supreme Court Rules Voter Referendums Cannot Repeal Tax Cuts Passed by Legislature\">political action committee backed<\/a> by Republican megadonor Jeffrey Yass intervened, airing ads claiming the congresswoman \u201copposed Biden.\u201d Some progressives are celebrating her victory, citing her primary as a test heading into the rest of the election season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy sister-in-service [Lee\u2019s] resounding victory tonight sends a clear message to AIPAC and far-right billionaires like Jeff Yass that our seats cannot be bought,\u201d Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) said in a post on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CoriBush\/status\/1782941031765258290\">X<\/a>. \u201cFrom PA-12 to MO-01, our constituents see through the charade, and they\u2019re ready to do what it takes to win.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Bush herself has now become a top target after sparking ire among pro-Israel groups for her calls for a ceasefire and her comments accusing Congress and the Biden administration of fueling the deaths in Gaza. The power and influence of AIPAC, DMFI, and other groups will be put to the test in the months to come. Donors close to these groups cite Bush and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) as their top targets. <\/p>\n<p>Bowman was outraised by George Latimer, a Westchester County politician, who raised nearly $1 million more than Bowman during the first quarter of 2024. More than $950,000 was raised through earmarked donations to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Bush\u2019s primary opponent, St. Louis county prosecutor Wesley Bell, raised about $100,000 more than Bush. It\u2019s unclear how much funding may have come from pro-Israel groups. However, Bell raised $650,000 in earmarked contributions through Democracy Engine Inc. PAC, a platform that allows some organizations to obscure their donations. <\/p>\n<p>Beyond Bowman and Bush, the only other Squad member who faces some potential headwinds is Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) who faces a rematch against former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels. Samuels only lost to Omar by 2 points in the primary in 2022. So far, Omar is significantly outraising Samuels and pro-Israel groups have not participated in this race yet. Back in 2022, AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy project sent funding to another super PAC that ultimately spent about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/political-action-committees-pacs\/make-a-difference-mn05\/C00821587\/pac-to-pac\/2022\">$625,000<\/a> on Samuels\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n<p>Pro-Israel groups gained some significant wins last cycle when they ousted Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) and blocked Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Nina Turner (D-OH) from advancing to the general election,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just the incumbents that matter to us, it\u2019s a whole panoply of races. It would be great if we knock out one of the incumbents,\u201d Mellman said. \u201cIt\u2019s also very important to us to keep new anti-Israel members from joining the Congress, defeating incumbents or winning open seats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese groups are sophisticated \u2014 and they are thinking very carefully about how they are spending their money,\u201d said a Democratic consultant with ties to AIPAC who asked not to be named. \u201cI think you\u2019re going to see them engaging in races where the incumbents are already weakened through scandals completely unrelated to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bowman has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2441811\/jamaal-bowman-latest-democrat-to-be-censured-following-false-fire-alarm-incident\/\">drawn scrutiny<\/a>, specifically after he pulled the fire alarm in a Capitol office building ahead of a vote to avoid a government shutdown. He ultimately was censured by the House. Earlier this year, an old blog post from Bowman was recovered that showed he once circulated conspiracy theories about Sept. 11, 2001. <\/p>\n<p>Bush has also faced some controversy of her own after the Department of Justice launched an investigation into her campaign\u2019s spending on security services.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to weigh what your return on investment is going to be,\u201d said Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist. \u201cI\u2019m fairly confident that some of these egregious Squad members will lose to successful Democrats who actually represent the values of their communities.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>A coalition of nearly two dozen progressive groups recently launched an effort to defend progressive Democrats who have been outspoken about Israel. The group includes Justice Democrats, the Sunrise Movement, and the IfNotNow Movement.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pro-Israel groups intensify efforts against progressive incumbents critical of Israel&#8217;s actions in Gaza and U.S. support. Despite this, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) of the &#8220;Squad&#8221; secured a victory in a recent primary against moderate challenger Bhavani Patel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2231864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24117775380784-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2231863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24117775380784-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2231863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2231864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2231863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2231863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2231863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}