The political arm of the largest pro-Israel membership group in the United States launched an ad campaign Wednesday targeting Rev. Raphael Warnock, the Democratic candidate for Senate in the Georgia runoff.
The 30-second spot from Christians United for Israel Action Fund takes aim at both Warnock's record of statements critical of Israel and his recent attack on evangelical Christians, traditionally a staunchly pro-Israel denomination.
The ad calls him "Radical Raphael Warnock" and says he is "preaching a gospel of hate." The voiceover says "Warnock demonized Christians who stand with Israel," a reference to his sermon after the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem in 2018 in which he accused "mealy-mouthed evangelical preachers" of being "responsible for the mess that we found ourselves in … misquoting and misinterpreting the Scripture, talking about peace."
NEW AD: Radical Raphael Warnock is no friend to Israel #cufiactionfund pic.twitter.com/BAfQJyM18S
— CUFI Action Fund (@CUFIActionFund) December 23, 2020
A spokesperson for the group said the ad is backed by a six-figure digital and social media buy targeting pro-Israel voters in Georgia, where the organization has approximately 500,000 members, according to the spokesperson.
Last month, Pastor Jay Bailey, CUFI's Georgia state director, published an op-ed criticizing Warnock's "condemnations of Israel" as "disgusting."
The organization announced this week it had reached 10 million members.
Warnock is locked in a tight race with incumbent senator Kelly Loeffler (R.). The runoff election will take place on Jan. 5.