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Trump’s Iran War Is Dividing Republicans. Pro-Palestine Groups Want Democrats to Exploit the Rifts.

A pro-Palestine group launched a $2 million ad buy aiming to exploit Republican rifts over Israel. They hope Democrats will take note.

Midterm elections have kicked off against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israel’s intensifying war on Iran — and a progressive pro-Palestine group is spending $2 million on ads targeting Republicans over their support for Israel.

The 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’s seen progressives ramp up attacks on the pro-Israel lobby and its widespread support among members of Congress. Now, IMEU hopes to take advantage of what it calls a growing vulnerability for Republicans while the consequences of their support for Israel have been laid bare in the form of President Donald Trump’s latest act of war on Iran.

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

“The perception that President Trump launched this war against Iran for Israel’s benefit is dividing his base and will benefit Democrats in 2026,” said IMEU spokesperson Hamid Bendaas, “if Democrats choose to take advantage.” 

So far, the party’s leadership has declined. Despite reportedly concluding in an internal autopsy 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. 

“Democrats made the costly mistake of ignoring the deep unpopularity of support for Israel — and its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza — among their own voters in 2024,” Bendaas said. “They 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.”

Will James Talarico Really Fight for Justice in Texas?

Democratic results in the midterms’ 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 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........

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