Pro-Israel lobby groups in the US have come out in force to unseat Ilhan Omar in the August Democratic primary elections. The freshman lawmaker is locked in a bitter race with Antone Melton-Meaux, who is said to be a “moderate” candidate backed by lobbyists.
An investigation by Mondoweiss into Federal Election Commission records and Facebook’s advertising library has found that pro-Israel PACs (political action committees) have injected around $2 million into the race to support their favoured candidate Melton-Meaux, through multiple channels. Some of the most vociferous anti-Palestinian groups, whose political home is normally the Republican Party, have joined forces to oust the progressive Black Muslim woman before the November general election. Minnesota’s 5th congressional district is traditionally held by a Democrat.
The Pro-Israel America PAC, amongst the largest super PAC donors, has given more than $350,000 to Melton-Meaux’s campaign. According to the online election monitoring site Open Secrets, this PAC claims that it “works to strengthen support for the US-Israel relationship” and has spent a total of $1.8 million funding pro-Israel candidates.
Donors to Melton-Meaux, who has been critical of the Black Lives Matter Movement, also include groups run by David Satterfield, a Trump-supporting Middle East diplomat who was once accused of handing classified national security secrets to AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Trump loyalists are said to have spent around $700,000 on mailshots attacking Omar. Top donors in the PAC include multiple noted AIPAC activists, Mondoweiss has revealed.
AIPAC is also said to be active on Facebook where it recently circulated $663,000 worth of adverts critical of Omar and progressives generally. Other groups, like the American Jewish Congress, for example, are said to have run similar ad campaigns.
Melton-Meaux has also received financial support from another group not usually connected with the Democrats. At least twice over the past few months, a bipartisan group that includes a number of Trump supporters came together over Zoom to talk about why Melton-Meaux is their preferred candidate, reported Minnpost, a local Minneapolis newspaper.
NORPAC, a hawkish political action committee that has worked to promote a hard-line anti-Palestinian agenda in Congress, has held fundraisers for pro-Israel candidates. The group supported President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of America from the Iran nuclear deal and his move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It’s reported that NORPAC has bundled $150,000 for Melton-Meaux’s campaign.
Despite its reputation as a right-wing group, more allied to Trump than progressives on the left, NORPAC has been brazen about its support for Melton-Meaux. “Together, we have the privilege of accomplishing a dual objective. Supporting a deserving candidate, Antone Melton-Meaux, who has communicated a genuine desire to strengthen the US-Israel relationship and bring honour to his country and party while at the same time replacing [Representative] Ilhan Omar, a highly divisive member of Congress who has proven to be unfairly and repeatedly critical of Israel.”
Pro-Israel groups are out in force to unseat Ilhan Omar
Pro-Israel lobby groups in the US have come out in force to unseat Ilhan Omar in the August Democratic primary elections. The freshman lawmaker is locked in a bitter race with Antone Melton-Meaux, who...
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