Why Pro-Israel Groups Are Targeting An Indiana Republican

On Tuesday, a passionate opponent of American involvement in overseas wars squares off against pro-Israel groups who accuse him of antisemitism and have heavily outspent him in a contentious primary race.

The catch? While virtually all of the big spending on U.S.-Israel policy in recent years has been in Democratic primaries, this time the candidate in question, former Rep. John Hostettler, is a Republican.

Hostettler is vying for the GOP nomination in Indiana’s 8th Congressional District, a solid Republican seat in the Hoosier State’s southwestern corner which he previously represented from 1995 to 2007. Some pro-Israel donors also backed the conservative Democrat who unseated him in 2006.

His chief opponent is state Sen. Mark Messmer, who has attracted the support of deep-pocketed outside groups concerned about Hostettler’s record on Israel and comments about the Jewish identities of policymakers involved in planning the Iraq War.

Hostettler is defiant. In an April Facebook post that employed antisemitic tropes, the former congressman joked that the pro-Israel groups spending against him are “DEFINITELY NOT a cabal.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition’s super PAC has spent nearly $1 million boosting Messmer on the airwaves.

Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said that Hostettler’s out-of-print 2008 book, “Nothing for the Nation: Who Got What Out of Iraq,” promoted “centuries-old antisemitic tropes about the influence of Jews in politics.”

“He was consistently one of the most anti-Israel votes in Congress,” Brooks added. “There’s not a lot of ambiguity there.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has also spent nearly $1.3 million