Squad member Cori Bush’s anti-Israel stance puts her at risk in Tuesday’s Democratic primary

Rep. Cori Bush is fighting for her political survival in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Missouri where her anti-Israel stance threatens to make her the second “Squad” member ousted by Democratic voters.

Ms. Bush, 48, a two-term incumbent, faces off against St. Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell, a well-funded challenger backed up by pro-Israel super-PACs that booted another Squad member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, in the New York Democrat primary.

According to federal financial records, Ms. Bush raised $2.9 million for her reelection campaign, but Mr. Bell collected $4.7 million from donors.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s political action committee, the United Democracy Project, has spent more than $8.4 million to defeat Ms. Bush.

A poll paid for by another pro-Israel PAC shows Mr. Bell leading Ms. Bush by six points.

Ms. Bush is an outspoken critic of Israel’s war against Hamas after its Oct. 7 terrorist attack on the Jewish state, including her accusing Israel of an “ethnic cleansing campaign.”

She was among the handful of House Democrats who opposed a resolution supporting Israel and also boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech last month to a joint meeting of Congress.

Ms. Bush represents Missouri’s solidly liberal 1st Congressional District which covers St. Louis and several suburbs, including Ferguson.

Before her election to Congress in 2018, she was a defund-the-police activist who made a name for herself during the 2014 Ferguson riots.

Mr. Bell also was on the streets of Ferguson with protesters after the deadly confrontation between Officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown, an unarmed Black man.

Mr. Bell facilitated talks between protesters and police in 2014 and was later elected to the Ferguson City Council. The young Black prosecutor early on distinguished his position on Israel from Ms. Bush.

“I think we have to stand with our allies, and Israel has always been an ally, but we always want to keep the door open for a two-state solution,” he said, when he launched his campaign for Congress. “But we cannot give aid and comfort to terrorist organizations, and Hamas is a terrorist organization, and Israel has the right to defend themselves.”

Pro-Palestinian American Jewish organizations, such as IfNotNow have rallied behind Ms. Bush and her fellow Squad members.

Ms. Bush called on her supporters to “reject AIPAC and defeat far-right extremism in the U.S. & across the world.”

Justice Democrats, which is part of Reject AIPAC, spent about $1.5 million this cycle to support Ms. Bush.

She also had run-ins with Democratic leaders within the district when she voted against the White House-backed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that spent $429 million on Missouri water infrastructure projects.

She said she voted against the bill because it did not have certain measures she wanted such as subsidized child care.

Ms. Bush is under federal investigation for using campaign funds to hire her husband to provide her security. She has denied wrongdoing.