A closely-watched Republican congressional primary, taking place on Tuesday after breaking fundraising records, is like a bingo card of recent American — and American Jewish — political discourse.

The election is centered on support for Israel and US President Donald Trump. Jewish groups and donors have spent heavily on the campaign. Both sides are running ads with AI deepfakes. Tucker Carlson has weighed in.

And as of this writing, it’s unclear who will win: Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, or his challenger, retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. Massie, once popular in his district, has broken with Trump on a range of issues, while Gallrein has the president’s vocal support and a lead in the polls.

The primary will demonstrate just how much of a hold Trump still has on his party. But it’s also seen as a test of whether a staunch critic of Israel can survive in today’s GOP.

Massie has consistently voted against US aid to Israel — including its missile defense system, Iron Dome. In the closing days of the campaign, he announced a bill to register the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He’s also been accused of antisemitism for reasons that have nothing to do with Israel. AIPAC, the Republican Jewish Coalition and Christians United for Israel have all lined up behind Gallrein and spent heavily on him.

We’ve been here before — just on the other side of the aisle. The Kentucky primary is the most expensive ever, with more than $32 million in total ad spending, according to Politico. The second- and third-most expensive primaries ever also centered around Israel, when AIPAC-backed candidates ousted two anti-Israel Democratic members of the far-left Squad in 2024.

Back then, those primaries sent a message that pro-Israel forces still held sway in the Democratic Party, and a similar narrative is emerging in Kentucky. But two years of hindsight show that the 2024 races did little to halt the skydive in Democratic support for Israel. And there are signs this time that even if Massie loses, his defeat will be a bump in the road for Republican opponents of Israel, not a dead end.

A thorn in AIPAC’s side

Massie has long been a thorn in the side of AIPAC and pro-Israel Republicans. In 2021, he was the only GOP lawmaker to vote against funding Iron Dome. Appearing on the far-right Carlson’s show in 2024, Massie said he voted against measures supporting Israel 15 times in one month because he’s against “sending our money overseas”........

© The Times of Israel