Thomas Massie

Moments after he learned his nearly 14 years in Congress were coming to an end, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky offered an explanation for his defeat rooted not in his state but thousands of miles east.

“I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv,” he told cheering supporters at his election-night party, referring to the Republican who beat him.

The comment was a clear reference to the millions of dollars spent against Mr. Massie, a longtime critic of Israel and more recently of the war with Iran, by prominent pro-Israel donors and advocacy groups, including a super PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The Kentucky race is just one of many across the country in which debates over Israel are raging like never before, dividing not only Democrats but also Republicans as the war in Gaza and Israel’s role in the conflict with Iran have shifted American attitudes toward the Jewish state.

And Mr. Massie’s remark was the latest to strike a nerve among some Jewish leaders, who argue that politicians and their supporters have repeatedly blurred the lines between opposition to Israel and antisemitic tropes about Jewish money and power.

The prominence of such comments in politics — particularly after a series of antisemitic attacks — is alarming and potentially dangerous, they say.

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