Leading Jewish Democrat: Biden's embrace of Israel sent clear message to party

• Author: HERB KEINON
• Published date: 20 July 2022
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Paying attention to US party primaries before a midterm is getting deep into the American political weeds. Nevertheless, these primaries will have a significant impact on Israel in that they will determine whether that wing of the progressive flank of the Democratic party that is highly critical of Israel – a wing that includes members such as Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib – increases or decreases in power in the next Congress

Such a primary was held on Tuesday in Maryland's fourth congressional district, a middle-class neighborhood that encompasses the suburbs of Washington and whose population, according to the last census, was 51% black, 25% white, and 17% Hispanic. It is obviously not a district where the intricacies of the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian issues were foremost in the minds of the voters.

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Yet there was The New York Times calling the race there nothing less than a "proxy fight over Israel."

Why? Because the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's newly established super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), was supporting one candidate – Glenn Ivey, the eventual victor – and J Street was supporting his rival, former congresswoman Donna Edwards. The UDP spent $5.9 million on Ivey's campaign, and J Street spent $720,000 on Edward's.

This is one of several races where AIPAC and J Street have gone head to head supporting opposing primary candidates, with J Street in general supporting the progressive candidates backed by figures such as Bernie...