It is no secret that Israel has a problem with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in the United States – when among the extremists, this becomes a real anti-Israel policy. The group of the youngest and most radical progressives in the House of Representatives, who call themselves the “Squad”, were active during the months of the war against the American support for Israel, and in favor of an immediate cease-fire with Hamas at all costs. The members of the Squad include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes from New York, Rashida Tlaib (an Palestinian) from Michigan, and Ilhan Omar from Minnesota.
In recent months, and ahead of the upcoming elections (in which all the House seats stand for re-election), AIPAC (the pro-Israel lobby in the United States) has begun to act in a focused manner against some members of the Squad. This was not done by running a Republican candidate against them (since the majority of the members of the squads come from constituencies with a distinctly democratic dominance), but by massive support for a more moderate, pro-Israel Democratic candidate in the party’s primaries. For example, George Litmar managed to defeat house member Jamal Bowman of New york a month ago, largely thanks to massive AIPAC support (tens of millions of dollars, making this particular race the most expensive in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives).
This week, another success was achieved, with the loss of Corey Bush from Missouri to Wesley Bell, the attorney general who is considered pro-Israel and supported by AIPAC. Bush is known for accusing Israel of apartheid and even voting against American funding for the Iron Dome system. While the gap between the candidates was not particularly large (only a few thousand votes), this is enough to ensure that we will not hear from Bush again in the coming years, and to stabilize the Democratic Party in a slightly more pro-Israel direction.
