Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, holds a kippah in support of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as he speaks on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) announced a $10 million ad buy targeted at the US Jewish community and in favor of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump amid new polling showing he is trailing his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, significantly among Jewish voters.

“This is, by far, the largest and most comprehensive effort ever to turn out the Jewish vote for President Donald J. Trump,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement on Monday announcing the ad buy.

“Never before have American Jews felt so unsafe,” Brooks continued. “Never before has antisemitism in the United States been so prevalent. Never before has Israel’s survival been so threatened. Never before has there been a candidate for president [Harris] that embraces and defends the antisemitic, anti-Israel ‘Squad.'”

As a result, the RJC is launching the $10 million ad buy opposing Harris, the incumbent US vice president, that will first air during Tuesday night’s presidential debate between Harris and Trump, who served as president from 2017-2021.

The ad seeks to link Harris with members of a group of progressive lawmakers in the US House colloquially known as the “squad” — including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It claims the members of the Squad are “antisemitic” and “anti-Israel” and juxtaposes pro-Hamas protesters chanting in favor of an “intifada revolution” with Harris saying she understands the concerns of the protesters.

The message of the ad is summed up in the RJC’s press release, which argues, “Kamala Harris is no ordinary Democrat. She stands with the Squad, not with us.”

The ad buy comes amid newly announced bad polling news for the RJC. On Monday, the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) released polling showing that Harris is leading Trump among Jewish voters by a 47-point margin — 72 percent to 25 percent.

“Trump clearly has animus for the overwhelming majority of American Jews. This poll confirms that the feeling is mutual,” said Halie Soifer, CEO of the JDCA. “The data is clear: Jewish Americans do not want a Trump second term. If we get Jewish voters to the polls, we will win in November.”

Harris’s net favorability was found to be 13 points higher among Jewish voters than US President Joe Biden’s was, rising from +25 to +38.

Meanwhile, when prioritizing issues, only 9 percent of American Jews said Israel is their top issue, putting it 10th out of 12 issue options, according to the poll. Among Reform Jews it is ranked last and among Orthodox Jews it is ranked fourth.

The results contradicted a July poll conducted by pollster Richard Baris showed that Jewish voters prefer Harris over Trump by a narrow margin of 52.7 percent to 45.9 percent.