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Outgoing US Rep. Jamaal Bowman Blames ‘Pro-Israel’ District for Primary Race Loss
US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks during the National Action Network National Convention in New York City, US, April 7, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
In one of his final interviews before exiting the US Congress, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) suggested that his constituents’ pro-Israel beliefs doomed his failed reelection campaign.
“My district is a super pro-Israel district,” Bowman told Spectrum News in an interview published on Friday. “The minute I called for a ceasefire [in Gaza], that was the last straw with many in the district. And I say ‘last straw’ because I beat Eliot Engel; it was a target on my back from that community since then.”
Bowman defeated Engel, a Jewish Democrat and supporter of the US-Israel alliance who had served in Congress for over two decades, in the 2020 election.
Since then, Bowman has been one of the most strident opponents of Israel in Congress, especially in the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7. Amid the ensuing war in Gaza, he has not only accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza repeatedly but also labeled the Jewish state as a “white supremacist” entity and an “apartheid state.” He sparked outrage after dismissing reports of Hamas’s rampant sexual assault against the Israeli people during the Oct. 7 rampage as “propaganda.”
In a last-ditch effort to salvage his floundering campaign, Bowman attempted to curry favor with left-wing progressives by calling for an end to all military aid to Israel. The congressman also apologized for his previous votes to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and vowed to oppose all support for the Jewish state.
Despite his efforts, Bowman lost his Democratic primary election in June to Westchester County executive George Latimer by a staggering margin of 58 percent to 41 percent.
In contrast to Bowman, Latimer attempted to woo residents of the affluent, heavily Jewish Westchester County community by positioning himself as an ally of Israel. Furthermore, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, assisted Latimer in the primary, unleashing an eye-popping $14.5 million torrent of cash to benefit his campaign.
In the months following his loss, Bowman has repeatedly criticized AIPAC, whose mission is to foster bipartisan support for the US-Israel relationship, for involving itself in the primary battle, condemning the organization as a “Zionist regime” operated by “racist Republicans.”
In addition to his anti-Israel stance, Bowman also came under fire after pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC. Bowman initially claimed that he pulled the alarm due to suffering a panic attack. However, video later surfaced showing the lawmaker calmly walking up to the alarm, removing emergency signs, and pulling the lever. The incident reportedly embarrassed and infuriated many of his district’s constituents. The House of Representatives subsequently voted to censure Bowman.
“I wish I didn’t pull that damn fire alarm,” Bowman told Spectrum News.
The post Outgoing US Rep. Jamaal Bowman Blames ‘Pro-Israel’ District for Primary Race Loss first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”