UDP launches ad campaign against David Kim, far-left Dem challenging Rep. Jimmy Gomez
David Kim, a third-time challenger to Gomez, supports cutting off U.S. aid to Israel, said the U.S. should try to force governmental change in Israel and expressed support for BDS
David Kim campaign website
AIPAC’s United Democracy Project began independent expenditures this week in support of Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and against his progressive Democratic opponent, David Kim, who has advocated for a far-left foreign policy platform that includes cutting off U.S. aid to Israel, using U.S. pressure to compel Israel to change its government and supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Kim, an attorney, is running against Gomez for the third time in the Los Angeles-based 34th Congressional District; Kim lost to Gomez by around 3,000 votes in the 2022 general election and 12,000 votes in 2020. Kim has challenged Gomez, himself a progressive, from the left, proposing an approach of “co-governing” with activists.
Kim’s Israel policy would place him on the far-left of the House’s political spectrum. UDP made an initial investment of nearly $400,000 on Monday, including both ads and direct mailers supporting Gomez and opposing Kim, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. It’s UDP’s first spending in the general election cycle.
The foreign policy page of Kim’s campaign website calls for an immediate suspension of “all economic, diplomatic and military aid to Israel” until Israel agrees to an immediate and “PERMANENT” cease-fire and an end to the “‘open-air prison’ siege of Gaza.”
He said the U.S. should also use its “diplomatic and economic influence to pressure the Israeli government to replace its far-right government.” Kim also expressed support for the BDS movement, which he said “prevents purchases of products made in occupied Palestine.” The movement opposes purchases of any products made in any part of Israel.
He also called for the United Nations Security Council to establish an international court to “prosecute illegal settlers in the West Bank and deliver justice to Palestinian families.”
Kim, while describing the Iranian regime as an illegitimate government, said that the U.S. should “phase out economic sanctions, given that this measure has done little to empower the population or pressure the regime to improve” and must “reject any form of military escalation or action that could result in conflict with Iran.” But he said the U.S. should not engage in any diplomatic or economic exchange with Iran.
He additionally said he supports an end to U.S. arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey; rejected any defense treaty with Saudi Arabia; called for a travel ban and sanctions on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman; said all U.S. forces should be removed from Iraq; and supported restoring diplomatic ties with Syria contingent on free and fair elections. Kim also said the U.S. should join the International Criminal Court.
Kim’s unorthodox foreign policy views aren’t limited to the Middle East.
He accused the U.S. of being a “driving force” of a geopolitics that imposes “potentially oppressive political and economic regimes” of the “Global South,” called for substantial defense budget cuts, repealing the Patriot Act and ending “exploitative or neo-colonial policies” of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
In other regions of the world, Kim said the U.S. should end sanctions on North Korea, halt military exercises on the Korean Peninsula and lift the U.S. travel ban on North Korea; end sanctions on Afghanistan and negotiate with the Taliban; and liberalize U.S. immigration policy.
Kim and UDP didn’t respond to requests for comment.