Pro-Israel groups declared victory Tuesday night, after helping to oust one of their only Republican critics in Congress. However, they were also dealt a major blow, as a vocal Palestine advocate and AIPAC critic, Chris Rabb, is set to expand the House’s left flank after prevailing in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 3rd district.
Rabb, who was was endorsed by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), is expected to easily prevail in the general election, as the district is considered the bluest in the country.
“His victory is as much an exclamation point for progressives as it is a remarkable rebuke of Philadelphia’s Democratic machine,” declared Politico.
“They told me this wasn’t possible. That’s what they said,” Rabb told supporters at his victory speech. “I don’t know who they are, but I know who we are. I’m looking at we the people. And I’m not talking about we the people 250 years ago. That was a much smaller we. I’m talking about the aggressive fabulosity of this we.”
Palestine emerged as a key issue in the race amid a wider debate over Israel within the Democratic Party.
Rabb, a supporter of Palestinian rights and consistent critic of Israel, called for a permanent ceasefire, the release of all Palestinian prisoners being held without due process, a weapons embargo on Israel, and even the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees.
One of his opponents, surgeon Dr. Ala Stanford, strongly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but drew strong criticism when she compared the use of the word “genocide” to using the n-word.
Sharif Street, a state senator running for the nomination, also attempted to stake out a middle ground, referring to Netanyahu as a war criminal but refusing to call for an end to U.S. aid to Israel.
The candidates’ positions on the issue defined much of the outside spending in the race. The political action committee of the liberal Zionist group J Street lent its support to Street, while the pro-Palestine PAL PAC backed Rabb.
During the campaign, Rabb and Stanford traded barbs over the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s alleged involvement in the contest.
Stanford repeatedly denied taking contributions from the pro-Israel lobbying group, but a Drop Site News report from Ryan Grim and Julian Andreone showed that AIPAC funneled money into the 314 Action Fund Super PAC, which supported Stanford. AIPAC has used the same PAC to target Israel critics in the past. It spent $1 million via the group to stop Palestine advocate Susheela Jayapal from winning in Oregon’s 2024 primary.
“The structure allows Stanford, a pediatrician, to distance herself from the group’s increasingly toxic political reputation with the American public, while still benefiting from its cash outlays,” explains the article.
314 Action executive director Erik Polyak continued to deny the connection after Rabb’s victory. “We haven’t taken a dime from AIPAC in two years, but every move we make now, every investment we put into a race, whether it’s $5,000 or $5 million, is being characterized as AIPAC-driven or questioned,” he told the Washington Post.
These debates are certainly not isolated to this specific race, as the pro-Palestine shift of Democratic voters has transformed multiple elections and is expected to factor into the 2028 presidential primary. A recent NBC News poll found that nearly 60% of Democrats now view Israel negatively.
While Rabb’s win underscores AIPAC’s vulnerability among Democrats, its grip on GOP politics seemingly remains secure.
Tuesday night also saw Ed Gallrein, a Trump-backed former Navy SEAL, oust incumbent Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the Republican primary for Kentucky’s 4th district.
In recent months, Massie has become a target of the President over his vote against Trump’s budget package, criticisms of the administration’s foreign policy, and push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Massie’s opposition to U.S. aid to Israel and his resistance to Trump’s attacks on Iran also put him on the radar of pro-Israel lobbying groups, which spent nearly $16 million backing Gallrein, making it the most expensive House race in United States history.
“It’s turned into a referendum on whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress,” said Massie.
“I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv,” he joked in his concession speech.
Israel Lobby groups openly celebrated Massie’s defeat across social media.
“Pro-Israel Americans are proud to help defeat anti-Israel candidates!,” tweeted AIPAC, which spent $9 million on the race. “Being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics!”
“My favorite genre of AIPAC tweet is when they dump $16M into a race—making it most expensive primary IN HISTORY—then insist their victory shows support for Israel is ‘good politics”,” wrote media critic Adam Johnson. “If it was good politics you wouldn’t need to spend $16M! Thats evidence Israel is bad politics!”
