Pro-Israel challenger gains support from Silicon Valley Jews in bid to unseat Ro Khanna
Ethan Agarwal, a former tech CEO, is shooting for second place.
This story originally appeared in J. Jewish News of Northern California.
Outside the Palo Alto JCC in April, as hundreds of people entered the campus to celebrate Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s 78th birthday, a group of Jewish and Israeli-American activists from the advocacy group Bay Area Jewish Coalition-Action stood at the entrance, holding yard signs for political candidates on the ballot this June.
One name that stood out among those signs: Ethan Agarwal, a tech entrepreneur and political newcomer vying to unseat Rep. Ro Khanna in Congress.
A growing number of Jewish and Israeli-American voters are putting their campaign donations and votes behind Agarwal, who has positioned himself as the pro-Israel candidate in the six-person race. Under California’s primary system, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to face each other in the general election in November.
No public polling has been conducted in Cal…