They Blamed Israel for Hamas’s Attack. Jamaal Bowman Is Touting Their Endorsement.

New York congressman Jamaal Bowman is touting an endorsement from an anti-Israel group that blamed the Jewish state for provoking Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attack, a move that comes as he attempts to fend off intense criticism from his district's Jewish community over his response to the attack.

Bowman on Thursday posted a photo with members of The Jewish Vote, who smiled alongside the congressman while holding signs that read, "Jews for Jamaal." The group is the electoral arm of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), a left-wing nonprofit that has routinely disparaged the Jewish state and argued against sending anti-Semitic hate criminals to jail.

In its Oct. 7 statement on "escalating violence in Israel-Palestine," JFREJ said Hamas's slaughter of innocent Israelis was not "unprovoked," citing "decades of occupation" and "the stifling blockage of Gaza." Days later, the group's executive director, Audrey Sasson, accused Israel of "genocide." On Jan. 18, meanwhile, JFREJ condemned a proposal from New York governor Kathy Hochul (D.) to expand the list of offenses that can be charged as hate crimes. Those who commit hate-fueled crimes against Jews, the group said, should be met with "restorative, community-based education and healing," not "a police-driven response with criminal penalties."