Tuesday’s Missouri primary delivered the latest demonstration of the Israel lobby’s formidable power, as progressive Democratic “Squad” Rep. Cori Bush lost a primary challenge to St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, who benefitted from huge spending on his behalf by pro-Israel groups.
It’s the Israel lobby’s second ouster of a Squad member in just six weeks. In June, New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman lost the Democratic nomination to Westchester County executive George Latimer. In that race, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) poured an astonishing $14 million into the race — helping to make it the most expensive House primary contest ever.
Not far behind, the Bell-Bush contest ended as the fourth-priciest such race in US history. The AIPAC-affiliated but opaquely-named United Democracy Project spent almost $9 million to ensure that Bush was removed from Congress. Democratic Majority for Israel chipped in almost $500,000. It paid off: With more than 95% of the votes counted, Bell had won 51.2% of the vote to Bush’s 45.6%. The district is deep blue, so you can go ahead and pencil Bell in the seat now.
Bush and Bowman have been among the most vocal critics of the Israeli government’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel. The campaign in Gaza has killed an estimated 39,000 people, with most of them said to be civilians. About 90% of the population has been internally displaced at least once, with some moving 10 times, per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Using satellite imagery, US university researchers estimate that, through April 21, 57% of all buildings in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed.
In a statement last week about its quest to cleanse Congress of Bush and other Israel-critical voices, AIPAC told Associated Press:
“AIPAC’s grassroots members are proud to support strong pro-Israel progressive Democrats like Wesley Bell. 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.”
Of course, contrary to AIPAC’s suggestion, Wesley Bell being a progressive Democrat has nothing to do with the group’s support, which also flows to the most conservative Republicans. All that matters is alignment with the Israeli agenda, which is why AIPAC recently spent $300,000 on ads targeting Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who has voted against several pro-Israel bills in recent months. AIPAC wasn’t even trying to hand him a loss in his primary, which he won handily. Rather, it was AIPAC’s opening salvo against a potential Massie 2026 run for the Senate seat of retiring Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
On Tuesday evening, AIPAC took to social media to spike the football over Bush’s loss — and send a tacit warning to every other politician on either side of the aisle who might dare criticize Israel or vote against redistributing American wealth to it:
Pro-Israel Democrats win!
100% of AIPAC-backed Democrats have won their primary races so far this cycle, including @bell4mo & @LatimerforNY!
103 AIPAC-backed Dem winners, including:
☑️29 @USProgressives
☑️39 @CAPAC
☑️23 @TheBlackCaucus
☑️20 @HispanicCaucus
☑️85 @EqualityCaucus pic.twitter.com/e9TZgr3fkX— AIPAC (@AIPAC) August 7, 2024
In another social media post boasting about Bush’s defeat, AIPAC repeated its frequent election-year claim that “being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics!” However, that claim is defied by an odd and unsettling aspect of the Israel lobby’s participation in these races: Advertising that pro-Israel groups inject into these campaigns almost never mentions Israel. If pro-Israel policies were so essential to winning votes, why would AIPAC and its allies avoid making them a campaign issue?
Bush did have non-Israel-related electoral vulnerabilities, such as voting against Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill because it didn’t include progressive giveaways like free community college and universal family leave. She was also seen as a major hypocrite, promoting “defund the police” policies only to find herself the subject of a DOJ investigation into her campaign spending more than $130,000 on private security, with tens of thousands for “security services” paid to a man she ended up marrying. Bell’s campaign portrayed Bush as an unproductive representative principally focused on cultivating her Squad celebrity status.
…and we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you she isn’t the sharpest tool in the drawer:
Ladies and Gentlemen……
I give you @CoriBush , an actual member of Congress.
The level of stupidity is mind blowing. pic.twitter.com/9xEYZUYIjf
— Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) October 31, 2023
In the home stretch of her race, Bush — who won her seat in 2020 — could clearly see the handwriting on the wall. Contemplating her political future last weekend, Bush told NBC News, “One thing I don’t do is go away.” Maybe not, but her choice of where to go will be defined in no small part by groups promoting the interests of a tiny country 6,400 miles from St. Louis.
Soviet politburo levels of victory for AIPAC. They brag about their totalitarianism. Not a SINGLE voice of dissent allowed. Is this America? You still think you have any kind of fair electoral system in the US? https://t.co/y0yqelD3IC
— Daniel McAdams (@DanielLMcAdams) August 7, 2024
