Middle East Eye: Pro-Israel supporters raise money to oust Ilhan Omar | Politics

A group of wealthy pro-Israel political donors in the United States have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in an 11th-hour campaign in an attempt to unseat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in her primary election this week, Middle East Eye reported.

The website pointed out that this campaign comes in the wake of a series of defeats suffered by progressive Democrats such as Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman recently, after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent tens of millions of dollars on the campaign against them.

The website stated that Ilhan Omar has not yet faced an attack against her from “AIPAC” in her primary elections this year and was able to raise three times the money that her opponent, Don Samuels, has, as Omar raised $1.6 million, compared to $535,000 raised by her competitor.

Zionists for Samuels

But after Cori Bush lost her primary last week, largely due to a massive spending spree by AIPAC and its Super PAC, The Intercept reached out to a WhatsApp group calling itself “Zionists for Samuels vs. Ilhan Omar,” where a screenshot was posted saying that nearly $100,000 had been raised in 24 hours for the campaign against Omar.

Pro-Israel groups are spending heavily in this year's elections to try to help elect moderate Democrats over progressives who have criticized Israel or pushed for legislation in favor of Palestinian rights.

The Middle East Eye website said that while these efforts have been ongoing for the past several years, the political spending campaign by these groups has accelerated since the Israeli war on Gaza began last October.

Ilhan is a prime target.

Omar herself is no stranger to attacks from pro-Israel groups, he added. Since her election to Congress in 2018, she has been a prime target of attacks from Israel advocates.

The site noted that in 2019, Omar tweeted: “It’s all about the Benjamins,” referring to AIPAC, which she criticized for lobbying with other pro-Israel groups that spend huge sums of money on lawmakers who turn around and push policy in Israel’s favor. The tweet was widely condemned by Democrats and Republicans as anti-Semitic, and Omar eventually walked back the comments.

It is noteworthy that in 2022, the Super PAC project spent $350,000 in a failed attempt against Omar in her primary election.

Current polls show Omar with a strong lead (by double digits) over Samuels in this year’s race, and other prominent progressives like Rashida Tlaib have easily defeated their primary rivals.