Pro-Israel group floods airwaves with ads attacking congressional candidate Summer Lee

A pro-Israel political action committee is spending nearly $1 million to air ads attacking Democratic congressional candidate Summer Lee in the final stretch of the race.

Some local and national Jewish groups are calling out the ads from United Democracy Project, a PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which advocates for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

Lee, a Democrat from Swissvale, faces Plum Republican Mike Doyle in the Nov. 8 election in the 12th Congressional District. They are seeking to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle of Forest Hills, who is not related to the Republican Doyle.

More than 240 members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish-American community released a public letter Wednesday supporting Lee and condemning the AIPAC attack ads.

Ritchie Tabachnick of Ligonier helped to organize the letter criticizing AIPAC.

“I have known Summer Lee since the day she entered politics, and I don’t see her as a threat to Israel security,” said Tabachnick, a local political director for J Street, a pro-Israel group that has a more sympathetic approach to Palestine than AIPAC. “These ads are just an attempt to crush the progressive movement.”

The new ads call Lee a “radical” and attack her policy positions on police funding and criminal justice, but don’t mention Israel.

The latest ads strike a different tone than some of the AIPAC ads used to attack Lee in the primary, which claimed Lee was not supportive enough of President Joe Biden and Democratic priorities.

This is the first time AIPAC has intervened in an election between Democrats and Republicans.

Lee said AIPAC is showing they would rather fund far-right conservatives than protect democracy, and said there will “always be outside interests that seek to divide and distract us.”

She said she is thankful that members of the local Jewish community have rallied behind her.

“This is the cross-racial and cross-religious solidarity our city has exemplified through every hardship, and I am so proud to be running to represent this district,” Lee said.

When asked about the recent ads, the Republican Doyle said, “I’ll let Summer Lee’s radical comments stand on their own.”

In this year’s Democratic primaries, AIPAC spent millions attacking progressive candidates like Lee, and boosting moderate Democrats like Lee’s primary opponent Steve Irwin, claiming its ads were to support candidates who supported Israel.

United Democracy Project, the PAC affiliated with AIPAC, has dedicated at least $75,000 on mailers and more than $900,000 on television ads attacking Lee in the final stretch of the campaign.

When reached, AIPAC directed the Tribune-Review to a series of tweets defending the group’s record in helping elected Democrats and progressives, and claimed they are attacking Lee because she is an “anti-Israel candidate.”

“AIPAC works to elect pro-Israel candidates, including the Democratic leadership and half the progressive caucus,” tweeted the group. “AIPAC also works to defeat anti-Israel candidates like Summer Lee.”

Tabachnick said he organized the letter because he didn’t want 12th District voters to get the impression that the Pittsburgh Jewish community is against Lee. He said Lee “has enjoyed warm relations and widespread support in the Jewish community.”

Josh Shapiro, the state’s most prominent Jewish elected official and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, endorsed Lee and has been rallying with her at events.

Lee also has garnered endorsements from Jewish groups, as well as her primary opponent Irwin, who is Jewish. Political group Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania endorsed Lee in the general election. Irwin, the indirect beneficiary of AIPAC’s spending in the primary, sits on that group’s board.

Irwin said he isn’t excited about all the outside money flowing into the race so late in the campaign, and he criticized how much influence outside political groups can have on elections. Irwin said he and Lee differ on some issues but are much more closely aligned politically than the primary ads suggested.

“I want a Democratic-controlled Congress, and the way to do that is for this district to have a Democrat,” Irwin said. “Summer Lee should be in Congress.”

Hader Susskind is president and CEO of Americans for Peace Now, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace. He said AIPAC’s ad campaign “is crass and very transparent that they want to elect a conservative, Republican majority.”

In response to such criticism, AIPAC tweeted that it has financially supported 148 Democrats, but said it “doesn’t spend a dime backing anti-Israel candidates like Summer Lee.” AIPAC also claimed that Lee supports “conditional support to Israel” and said that groups like J Street are not pro-Israel.

For her part, Lee has rarely made public comments about Israel-Palestine relations.

Before announcing her congressional run, she tweeted twice about sympathy for Palestinians and compared their plight to Black people in the United States. At a Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh forum in April, Lee said she “absolutely” supports Israel’s right to exist and favors continued U.S. aid to the country, but believes all aid to U.S. allies should be conditional as part of efforts to export American democratic ideals, according to WESA-FM.