During his four years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom Malinowski was one of the top receivers of campaign donations from the pro-Israel community until he was defeated four years ago.
Although the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s political action committee donated $2,900 to him in the past, it now aims to stand in the way of the former New Jersey Democratic congressman, who is trying to return to Congress.
The lobby’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, reportedly spent $818,449 against him through Jan. 16 on advertisements, direct mail and phone calls, Federal Election Commission filings show.
“There are several candidates in this race that are far more supportive of the U.S.-Israel relationship than Tom Malinowski,” Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for the super PAC, told JNS.
Malinowski is one of a dozen Democrats vying for the nomination to succeed Mikie Sherrill, who resigned to become New Jersey governor. Whichever candidate wins the party primary is considered a shoo-in to win the seat, according to both the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections.
He was endorsed by JStreet in the primary in a district adjacent to the one he represented for four years. He called AIPAC’s position “inexplicable.”
In the U.S. House, he co-sponsored a 2019 resolution opposing the movement to boycott Israel and expressed support for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
He also backed legislation that same year, introduced in response to comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), that resurrected the ages-old canard that Jews were not 100% loyal to the country of which they are citizens.
“I’m in the mainstream of both the Democratic Party and of the Jewish community in strongly supporting Israel and its right to defend itself while being critical of some of the policies of the Netanyahu government,” Malinowski told JNS. “If AIPAC’s definition of pro-Israel excludes someone like me, there will not be enough pro-Israel people left in America to support an alliance for Israel.”
The ad attacks Malinowski for voting for a bipartisan spending bill in 2019 that funds humanitarian aid for migrants entering the United States and stronger border security measures, including money for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“In the special election to fill Mikie Sherrill’s House seat, Tom Malinowski said he’ll stand up to Trump,” the ad said. “In 2019, Tom Malinowski voted with Trump and the Republicans to fund ICE—more than $200 million for Trump’s deportation force. Democrats called Malinowski’s vote ‘a blank check’ for the Trump administration and a ‘betrayal.’”
That was the minority view. A majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate supported the legislation, which became law.
Malinowski told JNS that AIPAC’s attacks on him were designed to boost New Jersey Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, another candidate in the race.
Another of Malinowski’s opponents is Analilia Mejia, director of New Jersey Working Families, who has been endorsed by several critics of Israel, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), two members of the far-left “squad.”
Mejia formerly led the Working Families Party in New Jersey, which has endorsed her candidacy. The party has endorsed challengers to pro-Israel incumbent Democratic House members in California and New York.
Malinowski said AIPAC “told me that they believe I’ll be influential if I’m elected, and that even a slight deviation having an influential person who deviates even slightly from their hard-line, blank-check position is scarier to them than electing another member of the squad.”
