Israel-bashing former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman is creating a Super PAC aimed at ousting pro-Israel candidates.
“From Yonkers to Gaza and everywhere in between, we will fight for justice and reclaim our humanity,” says the new “Built to Win” Super Pac pushed by Bowman, who was ousted in a Democratic primary last year in large part because of his anti-Israel stance.
Bowman was even more explicit about his new PAC’s anti-Israel mission during a recent interview.
“Any candidate that supports [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and genocide more than their constituents, any candidate that’s tied up with corrupt crypto money, any candidate tied up with the real-estate lobby as opposed to renters, we’re going to go after those candidates very aggressively,” Bowman told City & State.
Former Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a pro-Israel moderate, trounced Bowman by more than 10 percentage points in the past Democratic primary for the 16th House District that takes in much of Westchester County and portions of The Bronx.
Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern, Jewish leader in Westchester, told The Post that Bowman again is showing his “true colors.
“Bowman is a true, authentic antisemite,” said Morgenstern, head of Young Israel of Scarsdale, a modern orthodox synagogue.
“The [super PAC] shows his true colors. He’s tripling down on attacking the Jewish people and the only Jewish state. It’s disturbing and sad.”
Liora Rez, a founder the watchdog group StopAntisemitism, said, “Even if someone wanted to get more antisemitic, anti-Israel candidates elected, it’s hard to imagine they’d give their money to a failure like Jamaal Bowman.
“He already wasted the money that was donated to his own losing campaign,” Rez said.
“Americans overwhelmingly stand with Israel and the Jewish people who have been a contributing and vital part of this great nation since the founding.”
New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said, “Former Rep. Bowman would be better to devote his new PAC to helping underserved people in our communities as well as promoting the economic interests of working class Americans instead of continuing his antisemitic, pro-terrorist advocacy in a pitiful attempt to retain even a drop of political relevance.”
Rory Lancman, a Jewish civil-rights lawyer and former Queens councilman, added, “Last year, voters across the country said loud and clear that America stands with Israel and against anti-Semitism and terrorism, and they said it especially loudly to Jamaal Bowman.”
He noted that Bowman announced the formation of his political action committee days after the Palestinian terror group Hamas held a propaganda-filled parade as they handed over the bodies of tiny slain Israeli hostages Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were just 9 months and 4 years old when they were violently abducted, along with the remains of their mother Shiri.
That’s “all you need to know about Bowman’s, and his PAC’s, values — and, frankly, its prospects,” Lancman said.
Latimer’s coalition of backes included voters turned off by Bowman’s criticism of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza after the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the Jewish state.
His well-funded backers included the United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that spent a staggering $14 million in the race, and a cryptocurrency group called Fair Shake that bankrolled another $2 million worth of ad spots.
Bowman accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and belatedly apologized for denying the horrific rapes of Israeli women during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed an estimated 1,200 people — including 33 Americans.
The weekend before the primary vote, Bowman vowed to “show f–king AIPAC the power of the motherf–king South Bronx” during a manic rally alongside fellow “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City.
In Bowman’s concession speech, he doubled down on his stance, telling supporters: “We will continue to fight for a free Palestine, and God help us that we live in a better world where when we say, ‘Free Palestine,’ it is not antisemitic.”
But even some black activists said the Super Pac won’t revive Bowman’s career.
“Jamaal Bowman’s loss wasn’t about Israel—it was about his complete failure to represent the priorities of the Black community,” said Darius Jones, senior adviser to National Black Empowerment Action Fun, in a statement. “Voters rejected him because he championed an extreme agenda that ignored their real concerns.
“You can’t oppose public safety in Black neighborhoods, deny Black families access to quality education through school choice, and neglect infrastructure and small business investment in Black communities while expecting Black support,” Jones said. “That’s why he lost—plain and simple.”
