by Mary Margaret Olohan
The Republican Jewish Coalition released its first ad Monday accusing Democratic 2020 presidential candidates of being anti-Israel.
The ad targets Jewish voters, warning that the “radical left” has taken over the Democratic Party and aims to “undo decades of bipartisan support for America’s crucial ally.”
“Leading Democrats have completely turned their back on Israel,” said a narrator as the ad pans over images of headlines about top Democrats threatening to withhold aid to Israel. “Democratic leaders cozy up to fringe groups who attack Israel. Front running Democrats are campaigning on cutting critical aid to the world’s only Jewish state.”
This behavior is shameful, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) warned in the ad, harkening back to the ad’s title “Shanda,” the Yiddish word for shame.
“It’s sad what is happening to the Democratic party,” the narrator concluded. “It’s shameful.”
The RJC authorized $10 million in April in campaign funds for the Republican Party, the largest sum the RJC has ever authorized to a campaign budget.
“We’re at the intersection of a very unique moment in time where we have the most pro-Israel president ever in history in [President] Donald Trump, and we also at the same time have the Democratic Party — because of the pressure of the progressive left— moving away from the traditional support for Israel that has existed going back to 1948,” RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said in April. Brooks has served in this role for around 30 years, according to Politico.
“This strain within the Democratic Party is making those centrist and center-left Jews who care about these issues feel more and more uncomfortable, and with the strength of Donald Trump and the Republican Party on these issues, we believe that we’ll be able to bring those folks over to the Republican side,” Brooks added.
Seventy-one percent of Jewish voters voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, according to the Pew Research Center. Twenty-four percent of Jewish votes went to Trump.
RJC did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
