Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) drew comparisons between the Holocaust and the war in Gaza, the latter of which she described as a genocide, in a speech on the House floor on Thursday, explaining her decision to support a resolution with far-left lawmakers, supported by anti-Israel groups, accusing Israel of genocide.

Dexter was backed by AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC in her 2024 primary race against an opponent viewed as further left, and ran on a relatively standard Democratic platform when it came to Israel issues. But she has shifted dramatically to the far left on the issue in recent months, also throwing her support behind efforts to cut off offensive weapons transfers to the Jewish state.

The Oregon congresswoman began her speech by recounting a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, the timing of which she described as “very intentional.”

“I went to reflect on the horrific history of dehumanization and ethnic cleansing that ultimately led the world to create a new term to describe such an unfathomable evil. That word is genocide,” Dexter said. “After the Holocaust, the international community made a commitment that such evil can never happen again to any people, anywhere. Never again, they said. That is why I recently signed on to a resolution recognizing Israel’s actions in Gaza led by the Netanyahu government as a genocide.”

Dexter said that she signed on “with a heavy heart” and “with the utmost respect for the Jewish people” but acknowledged that Jews in her district “may feel abandoned or deeply harmed by my action.” She professed her ongoing opposition to antisemitism and support for “our Jewish neighbors.”

“Many in this body have been reticent to clearly call out the mass suffering, the ethnic cleansing, the war crimes taking place in Gaza. I will not willingly continue to be part of that complicity,” Dexter continued. “As a United States representative, my job is to stand up against the power and our resources of this country being used in such ways.”

She said that “history has and will continue to judge this body, not just for what it did, but for what it failed to do. … I want my children to live in a country where leaders can be relied upon to lead with courage, empathy, and moral clarity. And I urge every Oregonian watching to hold me accountable in a shared unshakable belief in the sanctity of human life.”

Sara Bloomfield, the director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, criticized Dexter’s comments.

“Exploiting the Holocaust to accuse Israel of genocide is unconscionable and adds further fuel to an already raging antisemitic fire,” Bloomfield said in a statement to Jewish Insider.

AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann said, “The claim of genocide by Israel is a mendacious attempt to distort facts, rewrite historyand a dangerous blood libel. The only genocide in this war happened on October 7, when Hamas openly admitted it wanted to kill every Israeli man, woman, and child it could.  To invoke the Holocaust against Israel is a grotesque moral abomination.”

In Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District, the candidacy of Susheela Jayapal, a Multnomah County commissioner and sister of Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) — a leading advocate for suspending U.S. arms sales to Israel — quickly raised concerns in the pro-Israel community.

Democratic state Rep. Maxine Dexter, a pulmonologist who had been floated as a potential pro-Israel recruit against Jayapal, has seen an influx of support for her campaign in the run-up to the May 21 primary. Dexter told Jewish Insider earlier this year she wants to see a permanent end to the war in Gaza, but also said she opposes new conditions on U.S. aid to Israel.

On the campaign trail, Jayapal has supported conditions on U.S. aid to Israel and an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. She has said she opposes anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions measures without directly offering her own views. She said she’d reject donations from anyone who “donates to or is allied with AIPAC.”

Jayapal also voted against a resolution in the Multnomah County board expressing support for Israel days after Oct. 7.

A third candidate, Gresham City Councilor Eddy Morales, did not address questions from JI late last year about his positions on U.S. aid to Israel, and conducted a joint press conference with Jayapal to condemn outside spending backing Dexter in the race.

The Dexter campaign has received more than $4 million in assistance from outside groups, which Jayapal and Morales have claimed are being funded by donors connected to AIPAC. 

AIPAC declined to comment. Jayapal and Morales did not respond to requests for comment.

Dexter has herself denounced the outside spending as “a prime example of how broken our campaign finance system is,” while also highlighting the lack of “hard evidence” for her opponents’ claims about the groups’ supporters. 

Dexter is endorsed by The Oregonian and Willamette Week, as well as some local unions and current and former elected officials.

Dexter has seen a late surge in fundraising as well, raising nearly three times the amount of money between March and April ($581,000) than she did in the three months prior ($184,000), according to federal filings. She now is the leading overall fundraiser, surpassing Jayapal and Morales.

Some of the recent donations to Dexter have come from donors who have also given to AIPAC.

One of the outside groups spending in the race is a science-focused PAC, 314 Action, which says it’s backing Dexter because of her background as a doctor. Another is a new, California-based group called Voters for Responsive Government, which has so far only opposed Jayapal.

A Dexter campaign adviser accused Jayapal and Morales of hypocrisy, noting that both are benefiting from outside spending as well — albeit in much smaller quantities; the adviser noted that Morales is being backed by a real estate industry group that has backed Republicans.

Shaughnessy Naughton, founder and president of 314 Action, told JI in a statement the group has long supported Dexter, dating back to her state House run, due to her medical and scientific background and work in the state House.

“We also are bumping our heads up against federal preemptions that are absolutely in need of being addressed across those issues,” Dexter told JI in an interview earlier this year, saying she’s running for Congress primarily due to her experiences as a physician, focusing on issues including addiction, homelessness, reproductive rights, the environment, housing and medical costs, mental health and gun control. “I needed to step in. I know that I’m an effective leader, I’m experienced and my physician hat allows me to make policy that continues to be people-focused.”

“The insinuation that we are a front group for any other organization is not only false, but also insulting to our mission and our successful track record of electing over 300 Democratic scientists to office,” he said. “Our mission at 314 is to elect Democratic scientists and our movement is fueled by over 6 million grassroots supporters who are energized by that mission to elect Democratic scientists to public office at every level, from the U.S. Senate to school boards.”

Voters for Responsive Government did not respond to a request for comment.

Thirty of Dexter’s colleagues in the state House and Senate, including the leaders of both chambers, also put out a statement defending her from her opponents’ attacks, arguing, “The idea that she would ever do the bidding of any group or special interest is offensive and wrong.”

Dexter told JI in an interview earlier this year she’s running for Congress primarily due to her experiences as a physician, focusing on issues including addiction, homelessness, reproductive rights, the environment, housing and medical costs, mental health and gun control.

“We also are bumping our heads up against federal preemptions that are absolutely in need of being addressed across those issues,” Dexter said. “I needed to step in. I know that I’m an effective leader, I’m experienced and my physician hat allows me to make policy that continues to be people-focused.”

“What happened on Oct. 7 was horrific. There was a cease-fire on Oct. 6, and Hamas killed 1,200 people brutally, created so much pain in people’s homes within a secure border of their nation. That was horrific,” Dexter said. “And of course, Israel had the right to defend itself, they were obligated to defend itself.”

She said her experience in health care is a key advantage to her among the candidates; she also pointed to her experience as a member of the Oregon state House on issues including housing and homelessness. She voted earlier this year in favor of legislation that re-criminalized possession of small amounts of illegal drugs in Oregon.

“I am truly here because I believe our country is on the wrong track,” she said. “I know I have the integrity, the courage and the compassion to lead well.”

Dexter said she’s been in conversation with leaders in the Jewish community since before she entered the race about the Hamas attack and its ongoing impacts, both in the Middle East and at home, as well as working to educate herself on the conflict.

“What happened on Oct. 7 was horrific. There was a cease-fire on Oct. 6, and Hamas killed 1,200 people brutally, created so much pain in people’s homes within a secure border of their nation. That was horrific,” Dexter said. “And of course, Israel had the right to defend itself, they were obligated to defend itself.”

She also expressed concern, as a physician, about a lack of access to medical care in Gaza and widespread civilian deaths, as well as Hamas’ construction of tunnels underneath Gaza hospitals.

“We need a negotiated cease-fire and long-term peace and two-state solution and end to the violence, and get food and humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, urgently,” Dexter said, calling humanitarian aid shortages, “deeply concerning, morally, just untenable in my mind.”

She added that her priority, as a doctor and a mother, is “protecting and saving human life” and the “families who did not ask their homes to become a battleground.”

But Dexter said it’s difficult to see Hamas as a “viable component” of a negotiated agreement, and that the Palestinian Authority, Arab states and other parties need to be involved in the talks in order to secure a viable and durable peace.

She said she likewise is “really challenged with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s leadership” because she doesn’t “believe that he wants peace.”

Dexter added that she wants to see both the Israeli and Palestinian sides be committed to peace, but said that it’s up to the Israeli people to decide their leadership.

The state lawmaker has sought to highlight her position on the conflict, running a Facebook ad in late April and early May, reading, “Every day without a ceasefire that returns hostages to their families and rushes humanitarian aid into Gaza is one day too many.”

Jayapal has advertised herself as the only candidate supporting a cease-fire.

“Dexter has been clear about her values and commitment to supporting the US-Israel relationship and fighting antisemitism, both important issues right now,” Pro-Israel America’s executive director, Samantha Garelick, said in a statement to JI.

Dexter said she’s supportive of the Biden administration’s decision to impose new conditions and oversight provisions on arms sales globally — a move primarily prompted by congressional pressure over the war in Gaza — but said she doesn’t believe there should be additional conditions on aid to Israel that don’t apply to all allies.

Dexter spoke to JI well in advance of the administration’s decision to pause some arms transfers to Israel and threaten others if Israel conducts a full-scale invasion of Rafah.

Dexter added that she thinks congressional oversight is important to ensure that all aid recipients comply with U.S. law and international humanitarian law, as mandated by existing U.S. law.

Pro-Israel America is the only Jewish or pro-Israel group that has made an endorsement in the race, supporting Dexter.

“Dexter has been clear about her values and commitment to supporting the US-Israel relationship and fighting antisemitism, both important issues right now,” PIA’s executive director, Samantha Garelick, said in a statement to JI.

J Street and Peace Action are backing Jayapal.

Domestically, Dexter expressed deep concern about “heartbreaking” antisemitism and hate crimes impacting the Jewish community, as well as attacks on the Muslim community. This month, a Jewish student at Portland’s Reed College was struck in the head by a rock thrown into the student’s dorm room — an incident that occurred a day after the student’s mezuzah affixed to the door was removed and destroyed.

“This is not who we are as Americans,” Dexter said. “Actually — it is who we are, but we as leaders must lean into the humanity of the people across our communities and uphold the necessity of treating everyone with respect and understanding, and not allowing hate to be propagated, and not speaking up.”

She particularly highlighted incidents impacting young children and their parents, at children’s swimming lessons and elementary schools. She said she’s heard troubling stories from her own son and other parents and community members about incidents in the district.

“This is absolutely a moment where we as leaders need to step in and acknowledge that this behavior is happening and to stand up against it,” Dexter said. “I just want us to center everyone’s humanity. My Jewish neighbor walking their child to school should not fear in their own community any more than anyone else does.”

Pro-Israel activists in Portland, Ore., are bracing for what could be a bitterly divided House race as longtime Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) prepares to retire at the end of his current term, opening up a rare vacancy in one of the state’s most progressive districts.

The Democratic primary field, which is expected to grow in the coming weeks, has so far drawn two candidates, most prominently Susheela Jayapal, a former Multnomah County commissioner whose younger sister, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is among the most outspoken critics of Israel in the House.

While the elder Jayapal, 61, had no discernible history of public engagement on Middle East policy until recently, her approach to the war between Israel and Hamas suggests there is little distance between the two siblings on such matters — fueling concerns among local pro-Israel advocates who have yet to coalesce behind a viable candidate.

One major source of contention stems from an emotionally charged county board meeting days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, when Jayapal, who stepped down as commissioner last month to launch her campaign, voted to reject a resolution seeking to show unified support for lighting a Portland bridge in blue and white.

“I don’t think I can acknowledge [the] loss of one group when there are Palestinian lives being lost as well,” Jayapal said of the resolution, even as she endorsed illuminating the Morrison Bridge in solidarity with Israel.

Later that day, Jayapal drew heightened scrutiny from Jewish and pro-Israel leaders after she chose not to include her name on a joint statement — signed by two commissioners and the county chair — condemning Hamas and standing with Israel as well as Portland’s Jewish community.

“We were disappointed that she didn’t sign on,” Bob Horenstein, the director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, told Jewish Insider in a recent interview. “I can only surmise that she didn’t feel like it was balanced.”

Sharon Meieran, the lone Jewish commissioner on Multnomah County’s board, who led the statement, said that Jayapal had initially seemed open to adding her name but ultimately pulled out “at the very last minute,” even after some of the language had been revised at her behest during a strained editing process. 

In written comments to JI last week, Meieran alleged that Jayapal had also tried to remove a Holocaust reference from the draft statement, creating further tension behind the scenes. “I was somewhat reassured when Commissioner Jayapal indicated she would consider signing on to the statement,” Meieran said. “But then I heard that she had sought to remove reference to the Holocaust.”

“I refused to remove the reference,” Meieran said, noting that the request had been conveyed by her communications director. “As someone who had numerous family members murdered in the Holocaust, one of the most terrifying aspects of the Hamas attack was the scale and targeting of innocent civilians because they were Jewish. No one affected by the Holocaust could fail to feel the connection.”

Meieran said she could not speculate about Jayapal’s reasons for backing out of the statement but explained that she was “surprised” and “deeply saddened” by her former colleague’s decision. “The situation in the Middle East is complicated beyond measure at every possible level,” she acknowledged. “But issuing a statement seemed like the least our board could do.”

In a statement shared with JI on Sunday, Jayapal said it was “unequivocally false” that she had sought to excise the Holocaust reference. “In fact, I had suggested the language that was ultimately used (‘the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust’) as an alternative to the original language, which I feel made an equivalency with the Holocaust, which is a singularly horrific event on an incomparable scale,” she countered.

“While working on edits with my colleagues, it became clear that the urgency of the moment superseded the time it would take for us to agree on what words to use to describe our strong condemnation of terror and violence against civilians,” Jayapal continued. “That’s why there were separate statements. My views then and now are largely shaped by my conversations with Jewish community members in Multnomah County.”

Jayapal’s response, which was more broadly worded and released the same day as the joint statement, denounced Hamas while expressing support for the bridge lighting as “a symbol of our absolute condemnation of violence in all its forms, and of our solidarity with the people of Israel in this moment of their grief.”

“My heart breaks for all those across Israel and Palestine who are living in a state of war and continued violence,” Jayapal said in her Oct. 12 statement, which did not mention the Holocaust or explicitly cite the Jewish community, “and for the loss and fear that all their families and friends here in Multnomah County are experiencing. It is unimaginable.”

“What I make of it is that she is running for Congress and is weighing the political implications of what she might say,” said a person familiar with some of the deliberations behind Jayapal’s recent comments on the Hamas attack, who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “She was going to try very hard to issue a statement that she hoped would appease both sides.”

Despite her opposition to the board resolution, Jayapal insisted in a separate statement to JI last week that she had been “clear and consistent” about her support for lighting the bridge. “I said so from the dais in the public meeting, I said so in my statement afterwards, and I said so in local news interviews.”

Hannah Love, Jayapal’s campaign spokesperson, clarified in an email to JI that the former commissioner’s “position was that lighting the bridge was within the county chair’s authority, not the board’s.”

As Israel’s war against Hamas shapes the trajectory of several Democratic primaries across the country, Jayapal’s recent maneuvering — and the resulting fallout — underscores the perils some progressive candidates are now facing as they navigate a politically charged issue that is sowing increasingly sharp divisions among party members.

“There are strongly felt perspectives on both sides of the conflict here locally,” said Jake Weigler, a Democratic strategist in Oregon, speculating that Portland’s activist community may push candidates “to stake out a clear position that could then drive national groups to get more involved in the race.”

“What I make of it is that she is running for Congress and is weighing the political implications of what she might say,” said a person familiar with some of the deliberations behind Jayapal’s recent comments on the Hamas attack, who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “She was going to try very hard to issue a statement that she hoped would appease both sides.”

The Portland contest is among a few House races in the Pacific Northwest that Democratic strategists and Jewish activists in the region expect to draw spending from leading pro-Israel groups, even as they have yet to disclose their plans.

“There are strongly felt perspectives on both sides of the conflict here locally,” said Jake Weigler, a Democratic strategist in Oregon, speculating that Portland’s activist community may push candidates “to stake out a clear position that could then drive national groups to get more involved in the race.”

But while pro-Israel groups are already setting their sights on House races where far-left incumbents have been among the most strident critics of Israel, it is unclear how such organizations are assessing a growing number of open-seat races fueled by a new burst of impending retirements.

Democratic Majority for Israel is “closely” following the Portland race but is still weighing where it will direct its resources, according to a source familiar with internal deliberations. A spokesperson for AIPAC, meanwhile, said in an email to JI that the group is “in the process of evaluating congressional races” but has “made no decisions at this time.”

With six months to go until the May primary, the race is almost certain to draw more candidates, setting up a potential clash between “an anti-Israel progressive and a pro-Israel progressive,” as one pro-Israel leader in Portland who opposes Jayapal put it in a recent conversation with JI.

One likely candidate who could possibly gain traction within the pro-Israel community is state Rep. Maxine Dexter, who has been characterized as a pragmatic progressive but does not appear to have issued any statements on Middle East policy. In a recent email to JI, Dexter, who is expected to launch a campaign soon, said she has received “strong encouragement” to run and will be announcing her plans this week.

While Dexter did not address questions on her approach to Israel — and local Jewish activists surveyed by JI were unaware of her positions — Meieran said she is “excited about her potential candidacy.”

“I can’t speak to her views on Israel, but I was impressed that she attended an event hosted by Congregation Beth Israel in Portland last night to learn about the Zioness movement,” Meieran told JI on Saturday. “The focus was on intersectional identities and how standing up for social justice and Zionism are not mutually exclusive, but rather are inextricably linked. Showing up and being willing to listen and learn matters, now more than ever, and Maxine walks that walk.”

Eddy Morales, a Gresham City councilman with ties to national Democratic leaders, is also running for the seat held by Blumenauer — who has embraced more critical positions on Israel — for more than 25 years.

In an email to JI last week, Morales, who has visited a kibbutz that was targeted during the Oct. 7 attack, shared his own views on the Israel-Hamas war, which he addressed on social media days before Jayapal released her own statement.

A pro-Israel leader in Portland, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his privacy, said there is growing concern among other like-minded local activists that Jayapal’s Middle East policy positions “will not differ that much from her sister.”

“We must do everything we can to prevent any further atrocities and crimes against civilians, no matter what they look like or where they live,” he said. “Today, as people in Palestine and Israel mourn and seek safety, we must demand that our leaders support immediate steps to help those in danger, like continuing to bring hostages home, preventing and stopping massive civilian deaths and restoring food, water and electricity in Gaza.”

He added that the U.S. “must also demand long-term solutions for people of the whole region, whether they’re Palestinian or Israeli, and support those who simply want to live their lives and raise their families in peace.”

As the race unfolds, the pro-Israel leader in Portland, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his privacy, said there is growing concern among other like-minded local activists that Jayapal’s Middle East policy positions “will not differ that much from her sister,” who faced bipartisan backlash last summer for calling Israel “a racist state,” remarks she later walked back. The progressive leader also drew scrutiny on Sunday for comments that some House colleagues accused of equivocating over Hamas’ use of sexual violence against Israeli women.

For her part, Jayapal’s rhetoric as an aspiring congresswoman has been more carefully worded than that of her sister, who has endorsed her campaign. Still, her comments so far have indicated that they are aligned on hot-button issues including calls for a cease-fire and conditioning aid to Israel.

In a statement shared on social media last week after JI had reached out to her campaign for comment, Jayapal voiced hope that the now-broken truce between Israel and Hamas would be “a step towards a more long-term and mutual cessation of hostilities, or ceasefire.” 

During an interview with a local TV station last month, Jayapal, a former corporate lawyer, also suggested that she is in favor of reconsidering the continuation of U.S. funding to Israel, noting that she supports humanitarian and military assistance “where necessary and with appropriate conditions.”

Morales, for his part, did not address requests for comment from JI regarding his positions on such issues. Dexter declined to weigh in on specific policy questions until she makes a decision about whether to run.

The Jewish federation in Portland is planning to organize a forum to hear candidates’ views on Israel and other subjects of interest to Jewish voters in the coming months, according to a spokesperson for the organization.

Elizabeth Mazzara Myers, a Democratic strategist in Portland, said she assumes that the war in Gaza will “play a role” in the race, especially if candidates stake out contrasting views. “I expect many of the candidates in this district are going to be shades of gray in terms of progressive Democrat policy differences,” she told JI last week, “so that actually may be a space where there are differences.”