ST. LOUIS – A deep-pocketed pro-Israel super PAC that helped defeat one member of the congressional group known as the Squad is now pushing to oust another — Missouri Democrat Cori Bush.
Bush, of St. Louis, has been a vocal critic of how Israel responded when attacked by Hamas in October, calling the Israeli retaliation an “ethnic cleansing campaign,” and she was among the few House members who opposed a resolution supporting Israel. She boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before Congress last week, calling him a “war criminal.”
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The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super political action committee, United Democracy Project, has spent more than $8.4 million to unseat Bush in her Aug. 6 Democratic primary against St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, according to federal campaign finance records.
“AIPAC’s grassroots members are proud to support strong pro-Israel progressive Democrats like Wesley Bell,” an AIPAC statement to The Associated Press read. "Cori Bush has been one of the most hostile critics of Israel since she came to Congress in 2021 and has actively worked to undermine mainstream Democratic support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
The race points yet again to the complications the war in Gaza has caused for Democrats in this year’s elections, with core constituencies at odds over how President Joe Biden's administration has responded. The disagreement has implications up and down the ballot and has already cost one incumbent his seat. United Democracy Project spent nearly $15 million against progressive U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, one of the most vocal critics of the Israeli government in the House, in a June primary election he lost to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist in New York.
Afterward, AIPAC said the “outcome in this race once again shows that the pro-Israel position is both good policy and good politics — for both parties.”
Bush, in an interview, said the donors behind AIPAC support former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
“This is only the beginning,” Bush said. “Because if they can unseat me, then they’re going to continue to come after more Democrats.”
Despite the onslaught of money, Bush said she is confident she has the support of St. Louis voters.
“They know that I’ve had this same belief, this pro-peace, pro-democracy, pro-diplomacy, anti-war, pro-humanity — I’ve been this person all along," Bush said.
Soon after the Hamas attack of Israel, Bush wrote on social media that Israel’s “collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas’s actions is a war crime."
“I strongly condemn Hamas & their appalling violations of human rights,” she wrote, "but violations of human rights don’t justify more human rights violations in retaliation.”
Her comments prompted backlash, even among some supporters in her district. Not long after that, Bell announced he was dropping his plans to run for the Senate against incumbent Republican Josh Hawley to instead challenge Bush in the congressional primary.
Bell, like Bush, is Black and was active in Ferguson, Missouri, after Black 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer in 2014, a shooting that helped launch the national Black Lives Matter movement. After being elected prosecutor in 2018, Bell reopened an examination of Brown’s death but found no grounds to charge the officer, Darren Wilson.
Bell, in an interview, said Bush’s comments about Israel were “wrong and offensive.”
“She has accused the people who have been the target of genocide and ethnic cleansing of doing that, which was just wrong,” Bell said. “Israel was attacked on Oct. 7 by a terror state. They didn’t attack military targets. They attacked (people) at a concert. They attacked women, seniors, children, killed babies.”
Bell said the goal should be to work toward a “peaceful resolution” in the Middle East.
“We don’t want to see any innocent Palestinians, any innocent Israelis, harmed. We want to keep the door open to a two-state solution,” he said.
AIPAC isn’t alone in seeking Bush's ouster. DMFI PAC, which supports pro-Israeli Democrats, is funding TV ads supporting Bell and Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat running in the primary to replace Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Conversely, nearly two dozen progressive groups have come together to support Bush and other Squad members. The coalition, called Reject AIPAC, includes Jewish peace organizations and Arab American and Muslim groups that have been organizing since the Israel-Hamas war began.
One group that is part of Reject AIPAC, Justice Democrats, has spent around $1.5 million on behalf of Bush in the primary cycle. Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi called AIPAC's record spending in the New York race “an all-out assault on our Democracy” that was being repeated in Missouri.
“Are we willing to let super PACs and lobbies, no matter what interests they represent, purchase elections and congressional seats just because they have more money?” Andrabi asked. “Or are we going to build a Democratic Party that actually reflects the needs and interests of everyday people?”
Bush also is getting moral support from several key Democratic congressional leaders. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar are among those who have endorsed Bush.
But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has stayed out of the Missouri race, with no contributions listed for either Bush or Bell.