When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress last month, Montgomery County’s U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean was one of the Democrats who boycotted his speech.
When Democrats opposed to how Israel waged war against Hamas circulated a letter in April urging President Joe Biden to cancel an arms shipment to the Jewish state, Dean signed it.
And when Congress voted to condemn the protester chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” as an antisemitic call to remove all Jews from the current territory of Israel, Dean voted “present.”
Now Dean is taking political heat over her record that critics say is anti-Israel. Voters in Dean’s district are receiving mailers claiming the progressive Democrat “turned her back and sided with anti-Israel extremists over and over again.”
The mailer, paid for by WIN PA, says Dean voted against “condemning hate speech toward Jewish people” and against “key funding for Israeli defense.” Dean also “disrespected Israeli leaders at the urging of extremist Islamic groups” and “joined the most radical anti-Israel members of Congress demanding that Biden cut off support for Israel.”
Dean did not respond to requests for comment about the attacks on her record.
“Voters in Rep. Dean’s district deserve to know that their U.S. representative, Madeleine Dean, has sided with pro-Hamas terrorists and against Israel,” said Matt Brouilette, the president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs and the WIN PA PAC treasurer. He said the mailer “is educating voters on the truth of Rep. Dean’s record, as most voters do not agree with her extremism.”
“This is not the only issue where Rep. Dean is out of step with her constituents,” Brouilette said. “By siding with Biden nearly 100 percent of the time, she also owns the historic inflation that’s hurting Pennsylvanians, as well as the border crisis that’s threatening national security.”
Commonwealth Partners receives some of its funding from Jeffery Yass, a Main Line billionaire, who is reportedly Pennsylvania’s wealthiest man and a donor to GOP causes.
Dean argues that by pressuring Israel and threatening it with losing the support in the U.S., she’s promoting the cause of peace.
On July 25, she posted to X: “Hamas committed a terrorist act on innocent Israelis on October 7th. Those of us who truly seek peace, humanitarian aid for Palestinians, and an end to this war can see that inappropriate protest tactics do nothing for those suffering abroad and only stand to hurt people here.”
David Winkler, the Republican running against Dean, declined to comment about the mailer. However, Winkler has been critical of Dean’s stance toward Israel. Dean also boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech to Congress. Winkler is actively seeking support from Jewish residents, including rabbis.
The beleaguered Jewish state has been defending itself from attacks from Iranian proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, since the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
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