In Pennsylvania's Senate race, McCormick elevates Israel-Hamas war in bid for Jewish voters

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Republican running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is escalating criticism of Democrats over the Israel-Hamas war and has traveled to the Israel-Gaza border to make the case that the Biden administration hasn't backed Israel strongly enough since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

The criticism by GOP candidate David McCormick reflects the delicate political challenge facing both President Joe Biden and incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in a state Democrats can't afford to lose in 2024.

Biden, who is seeking a second term as president, has been criticized from the left for being too pro-Israel in his response to its war on Hamas and for not doing enough to address the burgeoning humanitarian crisis among Palestinians in Gaza.

McCormick's attacks echo those voiced on the GOP’s presidential campaign trail where candidates have portrayed Biden’s policy on Iran — a key financial backer of Hamas — as too weak to frighten what the U.S. calls the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.

McCormick said the U.S. should impose sanctions to cut off Iran's oil sales and mount a more muscular response to attacks on U.S. targets in the Middle East to restore an order upended by what he called Biden administration mistakes going back to an incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“The key to America’s role in the world is peace through strength," McCormick said in an interview Thursday. “And so I think what we’re seeing is the failure of deterrence. I think what we’re seeing is a belief, across the world, among our adversaries, that America’s a little flat-footed. America’s weak.”

Neither Casey nor McCormick are likely to face serious opposition in Pennsylvania's April 23 primary before facing off against each other in November's general election.

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