A deep-pocketed pro-Israel super PAC that helped defeat one member of the congressional group known as the Squad is now pushing to oust another — Missouri Democrat Cori Bush. Bush, of St. Louis, has been a vocal critic of how Israel responded when attacked by Hamas in October, calling the Israeli retaliation an “ethnic cleansing campaign,” and she was among the few House members who opposed a resolution supporting Israel. She boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress last week, calling him a “war criminal.” The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super political action committee, United Democracy Project, has spent more than $8.4 million to unseat Bush in her Aug. 6 Democratic primary against St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, according to federal campaign finance records. “AIPAC’s grassroots members are proud to support strong pro-Israel progressive Democrats like Wesley Bell,” an AIPAC statement to The Associated Press read. “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.” The race points yet again to the complications the war in Gaza has caused for Democrats in this year’s elections, with core constituencies at odds over how President Joe Biden’s administration has responded. The disagreement has implications up and down the ballot and has already cost one incumbent his seat. United Democracy Project spent nearly $15 million against progressive U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, one of the most vocal critics of the Israeli government in the House, in a June primary election he lost to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist in New York. Afterward, AIPAC said the “outcome in this race once again shows that the pro-Israel position is both good policy and good politics — for both parties.” Bush, in an interview, said the donors behind AIPAC support former President Donald Trump and other Republicans. “This is only the beginning,” Bush said. “Because if they can unseat me, then they’re going to continue to come after more Democrats.” Despite the onslaught of money, Bush said she is confident she has the support of St. Louis voters. “They know that I’ve had this same belief, this pro-peace, pro-democracy, pro-diplomacy, anti-war, pro-humanity — I’ve been this person all along,” Bush said. Soon after the Hamas attack of Israel, Bush wrote on social media that Israel’s “collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas’s actions is a war crime.” “I strongly condemn Hamas & their appalling violations of human rights,” she wrote, “but violations of human rights don’t justify more human rights violations in retaliation.” Her comments prompted backlash, even among some supporters in her district. Not long after that, Bell announced he was dropping his plans to run for the Senate against incumbent Republican Josh Hawley to instead challenge Bush in the congressional primary. Bell, like Bush, is Black and was active in Ferguson, Missouri, after Black 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer in 2014, a shooting that helped launch the national Black Lives Matter movement. After being elected prosecutor in 2018, Bell reopened an examination of Brown’s death but found no grounds to charge the officer, Darren Wilson. Bell, in an interview, said Bush’s comments about Israel were “wrong and offensive.” “She has accused the people […]