U.S.-Israel politics set to roil Democratic primaries

Freshman Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., is a proud new member of the so-called "Squad" in Congress made up of a handful of the most liberal members in the party. "We put forth the boldest priorities and we fight for them, and we show other people them how to fight for them," she told NPR in a recent interview, "So it's not a pejorative to me at all."

While criticism of the Squad most often comes from conservatives, in the 2024 primaries forces normally aligned with the Democratic Party are working to defeat Lee and other Squad members over their critical position on Israel in the ongoing war with Hamas.

"What we have right now is a representative who has aligned herself with a small minority of the Democratic Party and has taken a lot of votes, I would say, that are not with the majority of Democrats in Congress," said Bhavini Patel, who is challenging Lee in the upcoming April 23 Pennsylvania primary.

Lee was one of just nine Democrats who opposed a resolution to support Israel, condemn Hamas and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Israel's security in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people — the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

And earlier this year, under pressure from fellow Democrats including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, Lee cancelled an appearance with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, after reports that some of the event's scheduled speakers had made anti-Semitic remarks about Oct. 7.

"We need to ask the question as to why she'd want to go and share that stage to begin with," Patel said.

It's a question resonating in her Pittsburgh-area district that includes most of the city and eastern suburbs, as well as the historically