A super PAC that appears to have Republican ties is trying to cast Vice President Kamala Harris in contradictory terms on Israel, pitching her as anti-Israel in a new ad that seems aimed at least partly at Jewish voters shortly after portraying her as pro-Israel in ads targeting Muslim voters.
The group, the Future Coalition PAC, is raising eyebrows with its less-than-subtle attempt to play both sides of the Democratic Party’s divide over the war in Gaza against each other.
It drew scrutiny this month for using antisemitic tropes in the ads it appeared to direct toward Muslim and Arab American voters in Michigan, a battleground state. That series of ads appeared designed to remind Arab American and Muslim American voters of Ms. Harris’s pro-Israel views and her husband’s Jewish faith.
In the new ad, released on social media on Wednesday in Pennsylvania, another battleground state and one with a significant Jewish population, the super PAC accuses Ms. Harris of pandering to pro-Palestinian activists and assails her for publicly criticizing civilian casualties in the war.
“Two-faced Kamala Harris is secretly campaigning for Palestine and trying to get away with it,” the ad begins as the narrator mispronounces Ms. Harris’s given name.
Many Jewish Americans hold complex views about the war, which followed the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza. But some have been troubled by what they see as disproportionate criticism of Israel on the left — and the Pennsylvania ad seems designed to play on those concerns.
In Michigan, where the Biden-Harris administration has faced intense backlash from Arab Americans over its support for Israel in the war, the group’s message was very different.
“Kamala Harris is a strong leader for these difficult times, tough on Hamas terrorists who murdered innocent Jews,” one ad begins, showing Ms. Harris shaking hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
The ad goes on to mention how Doug Emhoff, Ms. Harris’s husband, would become the first Jewish presidential spouse if she were elected. As the narrator notes Mr. Emhoff’s religion, an image of the Israeli flag appears onscreen, a dog whistle conjuring the antisemitic trope of dual loyalty.
The Future Coalition PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday about its mixed messaging, which was previously reported by Jewish Insider.
The group has spent $528,767 this election cycle, according to data maintained by OpenSecrets, a government transparency group.
Representatives for the Harris and Trump campaigns declined to comment on Friday.
Mr. Trump has tried to seize on the tensions in the Democratic Party over the war in Gaza and has criticized Jews who vote for Democrats. On Thursday, at a campaign event centered on denouncing antisemitism in America, he said that “if I don’t win this election,” then “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss.”
He made the remarks on the same day that the Uncommitted National Movement, which mobilized hundreds of thousands of primary voters to cast protest ballots against President Biden over the United States’ support for Israel, announced that it would not endorse Ms. Harris for president.
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