When two of Rep. Susan Wild’s constituents, a mother-daughter pair, wrote the Pennsylvania Democrat urging her to support Israel in its fight against Hamas, they received not one but two letters in response. One declared support for Israel and its "right to defend itself." The other called for international pressure on the Jewish state and an "immediate ceasefire."
The dueling letters, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, were both sent on May 21 and signed by Rep. Wild herself. They appear to be stock letters drafted by Wild's office. While pushing out such letters to constituents is standard for a member of Congress, Wild's letters provide drastically different assessments of the war that are now public after Wild inadvertently sent one version to the mother and the other to the daughter.
In the pro-Israel missive, the congresswoman said she was "outraged, devastated, and heartbroken" over the "vicious" Hamas attack. She expressed support for "the Israeli people and all fellow Jews" and reiterated Israel’s "right to defend itself." She also pledged to "do everything I can as your representative to ensure Israel has the ability and capacity to restore and maintain its security and safety of all its citizens."
In a contradictory letter sent to the daughter, the congresswoman also said she was "outraged, devastated, and heartbroken." But this time, she was devastated about the "unspeakable tragedy continuing to unfold in Gaza," adding that the Israeli military "has inflicted devastation on staggering numbers of innocent Palestinian children, families, and civilians in Gaza." She called for an "immediate ceasefire" and pledged to "always listen and fully consider" the perspective of Israel's enemies.
The two letters are an embarrassing mixup for Wild, who is running for reelection in one of the country's tightest House races. It comes as she works to moderate her policy positions on immigration, energy, crime, and other hot-button issues in the wake of a redistricting cycle that added Trump-loving Carbon County to her swing district. (Earlier this year, Wild was caught on a Zoom call deriding the county's residents as bigots who "drank the Trump Kool-Aid." In 2022, she was also caught on tape saying she needed to "school" Carbon County residents for their support of Trump.)
Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, which Wild represents, has a substantial Arab population in addition to an engaged Jewish community. For the constituents who wrote to Wild, the conflicting letters raise questions about the congresswoman’s authenticity.
"She tells one group one thing and tells another group another thing," said one of Wild’s constituents, who spoke to the Free Beacon on condition of anonymity over concerns about retribution from anti-Israel activists.
"I’ve never believed when she spoke about Israel that she was being authentic," this person said. "She has definitely favored the pro-Palestinian voters."
Wild's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the letters, including whether the congresswoman engages in a sustained practice of sending different letters to constituents or organizations depending on the views they express.
The mother and daughter who wrote Wild asked the congresswoman to oppose President Joe Biden’s then-pause on arms shipments to Israel. "This action directly contradicts Congress’s intent in allocating military aid to support our crucial ally and risks compromising both Israeli security and broader U.S. foreign policy objectives in the region," they said in separate messages sent to Wild online.
Wild, whose past flubs include calling into a Zoom video meeting while driving, has catered to other anti-Israel groups in the past while portraying herself as a supporter of the Jewish state.
In March 2019, for example, Wild told a reporter she was "one of the most pro-Israel members of Congress." Days earlier, she spoke at a fundraiser for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) alongside Marc Lamont Hill, whom CNN had fired months earlier for urging to "free Palestine from the river to the sea," a slogan calling for the destruction of Israel. CAIR has long been known for its links to Hamas, and its executive director said in November he was "happy to see" Hamas attack Israel.
In June 2020, Wild organized a birthday fundraiser for American Friends Service Committee, a left-wing group that has blamed Israel for the "root causes" of the Hamas attack and called for "decriminalizing Hamas," the Free Beacon reported. Until recently, she touted an endorsement from Emgage PAC, an anti-Israel group that has accused Israel of "genocide."
Wild has been cagey on other matters related to Israel. For instance, Wild’s office has refused to say whether she attended Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress last month. Some Democrats, including Wild’s close friend in the Pennsylvania delegation, Rep. Madeleine Dean, boycotted Netanyahu’s speech, announcing the decision shortly after meeting with CAIR.
Wild’s office has not responded to emails or voicemails asking whether or not she attended the speech, her constituent said. A staffer at Wild’s office in Washington, D.C., told the Free Beacon she was unsure whether Wild attended, saying she was "not really privy to" information about Wild’s daily schedule.