{"id":3931,"date":"2026-03-04T23:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/3931\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:42:15","slug":"new-midterm-ads-seize-on-republican-rift-over-israel-amid-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/3931\/","title":{"rendered":"New Midterm Ads Seize on Republican Rift Over Israel Amid Iran War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midterm elections have kicked off against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israel\u2019s intensifying war on Iran<\/a> \u2014 and a progressive pro-Palestine group is spending $2 million on ads this cycle targeting Republicans over their support for Israel and backing Democrats who favor blocking weapons sales to the country.<\/p>\n

The latest ad buy by the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project is one of the largest investments by a pro-Palestine group so far in a cycle that\u2019s seen progressives ramp up attacks on the pro-Israel lobby and its widespread support among members of Congress. Now, IMEU Policy Project hopes to take advantage of what it calls a growing vulnerability<\/a> for Republicans while the consequences of their support for Israel have been laid bare in the form of President Donald Trump\u2019s latest act of war on Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The war has aggravated long-standing Republican fault lines<\/a> on foreign policy<\/a> and resurfaced questions about where the party that calls itself \u201cAmerica First\u201d actually stands on embroiling the U.S. in fighting overseas. Those rifts were on full display this week, when Trump appeared to walk back<\/a> comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio blaming Israel<\/a> for dragging the U.S. into the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perception that President Trump launched this war against Iran for Israel\u2019s benefit is dividing his base and will benefit Democrats in 2026,\u201d said IMEU Policy Project spokesperson Hamid Bendaas, \u201cif Democrats choose to take advantage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, the party\u2019s leadership has declined. Despite reportedly concluding in an internal autopsy<\/a> that Kamala Harris lost voters over Gaza in the 2024 presidential election, Democrats have not incorporated those findings into their midterm strategy, Bendaas said. The party is on track to repeat those forced errors and whiff an opportunity to make significant gains in upcoming midterms if they continue to ignore the evidence around them, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats made the costly mistake of ignoring the deep unpopularity of support for Israel \u2014 and its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza \u2014 among their own voters in 2024,\u201d Bendaas said. \u201cThey could miss another opportunity if Democratic leadership and candidates in swing districts continue to take money from AIPAC and refuse to capitalize on one of their strongest attack lines against Republicans going into November.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic results in the midterms\u2019 first round of primaries on Tuesday offered some evidence that voters are interested in changing the status quo on Israel. In Texas, Frederick Haynes III<\/a>, a reverend who has been outspoken in calling for justice for Palestinians and labeling Israel an apartheid state, won a landslide victory to replace Rep. Jasmine Crockett when she vacates her seat. Crockett, who has largely followed the party line on Israel and Palestine, meanwhile lost the Senate primary to state Rep. James Talarico, who is not a known advocate for Palestine<\/a> but who local organizers see as potentially more amenable to the cause. In North Carolina, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, who ran explicitly against pro-Israel interests, came within 1 percentage point of incumbent Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee, who the pro-Israel lobby helped elect<\/a> in 2022. (Their race was too close to call as of early Wednesday afternoon, and Allam plans to request a recount.)<\/p>\n

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, IMEU Policy Project relayed concerns to Harris\u2019s campaign that Gaza would cost her votes<\/a>. After the election, it was one of several groups that met with the Democratic National Committee over concerns about Israel policy. IMEU Policy Project had concluded the issue was a liability in its own polling \u2014 and in the meeting, the DNC acknowledged it had found the same.<\/p>\n

In January, the group sent a letter to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, obtained by The Intercept, warning the congressional Democrats\u2019 campaign arm about the DNC\u2019s findings and its own, and advising DCCC about the group\u2019s plans to run ads against vulnerable Republicans. IMEU Policy Project sent the letter to DCCC prior to reporting from Axios<\/a> that verified the DNC\u2019s Gaza autopsy findings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are confident in saying that internal DNC data corroborated our conclusion that Biden\u2019s support for Israel cost Democrats votes in 2024, and have concerns that the DNC\u2019s suppression of this report is motivated, at least in part, by their finding that support for Israel is an electoral liability for the party,\u201d reads the letter. \u201cWe look forward to engaging with you to ensure that the pivotal lessons from the 2024 election are not repeated, and instead incorporated into the Democratic Party\u2019s strategy in the months ahead and before the pivotal midterm general elections.\u201d DCCC did not respond to the letter and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re independent of corporate interests \u2014 and powered by members. Join us. <\/p>\n


\n Become a member
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n

Thank You For Joining! <\/p>\n

\n

Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. <\/p>\n

Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept?\n <\/p>\n


\n Become a member
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Use<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IMEU Policy Project launched its latest round of ads last week against Republicans in toss-up districts in Arizona and Iowa. The new ads target Reps. Juan Ciscomani<\/a> and Marianette Miller-Meeks<\/a> for voting to send billions of dollars to Israel while supporting cuts<\/a> to health care<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIsraelis enjoy universal health care, while Americans go bankrupt from medical bills. Miller-Meeks\u2019 reward? Giant campaign donations from AIPAC and the pro-Netanyahu lobby,\u201d the ad says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

IMEU Policy Project spent $25,000 on its first round of ads in January<\/a> targeting Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican running in a tight reelection contest<\/a> in New York, for voting to send billions of dollars to Israel while supporting cuts to Medicaid services at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democrats have shown little sign that they\u2019ll take the prospect of parting ways with the pro-Israel lobby seriously, even as they watch the U.S. and Israel unleash destruction in Iran. While several progressives have vocally opposed the war, the party has largely been caught flatfooted on Iran, with Democratic leaders<\/a> reportedly slow-walking<\/a> a vote on the Iran war powers resolution, opening the door for Trump to attack Iran before Congress reconvened on Monday. The Senate is expected to vote on an Iran war powers resolution on Wednesday, followed by a House vote on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Several Democratic candidates running in midterm elections linked U.S. support for Israel to Trump\u2019s war in Iran this week. Allam released the first ad<\/a> of the cycle touching on Iran just ahead of Tuesday\u2019s primary. \u201cI have opposed these forever wars my entire career,\u201d said the North Carolina candidate, \u201cand I hope to earn your vote to be your proudly uncompromised pro-peace leader in Washington.\u201d In Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said the war was \u201cun-American\u201d and being pushed by Israel<\/a> and Saudi Arabia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some sitting members of Congress made the same connection. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas both criticized Rubio and the Trump administration for allowing Israel to endanger U.S. interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Rubio\u2019s remarks indicate that Israel put U.S. forces in harm\u2019s way by insisting on attacking Iran. And the administration was complicit \u2014 joining their war instead of talking them down,\u201d Castro wrote in a post on X Monday. \u201cThis is unacceptable of the President, and unacceptable of a country that calls itself our ally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Netanyahu now decides when we go to war?\u201d Gallego wrote the same day. \u201cSo much for America First.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Midterm elections have kicked off against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israel\u2019s intensifying war on Iran \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1069,2774,37,1077,2775,1068,1074,1075,1076,2777,1067,2776],"class_list":{"0":"post-3931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-article-type-article-post","9":"tag-day-wednesday","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-language-english","12":"tag-medium","13":"tag-page-type-article","14":"tag-partner-factiva","15":"tag-partner-smart-news","16":"tag-partner-social-flow","17":"tag-subject-politics","18":"tag-time-17-00","19":"tag-wc-1000-1999"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116173559737682849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}