Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson opposes US giving Israel 'blank check'

Troy Jackson, Maine’s Democratic nominee for the US Senate, said he opposed “giving a blank check” to Israel at a debate on Tuesday, while also linking American military assistance to the killings of Palestinians.

“I didn’t want any more offensive weapons going to murder people in Palestine,” Jackson explained in a rebuttal to his opponent, Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

The two candidates were participating in their first general election debate, aired on CBS13 and moderated by news anchor Gregg Lagerquist, without a live audience. Jackson, who holds a narrow lead over Collins, has rattled many members of the Jewish community in recent weeks, as he has intensified anti-Israel rhetoric and made controversial comments to Maine Jews.

A former state lawmaker and union advocate, Jackson secured the Democratic nomination in a landslide victory at the end of July. He won the nomination after the former Democratic nominee, staunch Israel critic Graham Platner, left the race amid a sexual assault allegation, which Platner denies. 

Jackson had previously said little publicly about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but during the contest to replace Platner, he accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and called for an end to US military aid to Israel.

Collins staunchly supported Israel over past three decades as five-term senator

Collins, a five-term senator, has staunchly supported Israel over the past three decades.

Asked by Lagerquist during a lightning round whether the US should increase, decrease, or keep military funding for Israel the same, Collins responded that “the current level is good,” adding that she is “a strong supporter.”

Jackson, meanwhile, argued that “it’s kind of unfair to ask that like this,” while also noting that he has the endorsement of J Street, the liberal pro-Israel organization.

After Jackson then declared that the US should not be “giving a blank check” to Israel, Collins accused him of making comments that were “very different” from his past remarks. Jackson denied this claim, while arguing against the supply of more offensive weapons to “murder people.” Calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a war criminal,” he noted that “Senator Collins likes him.”

Jackson’s remarks came just a week after he apologized to members of the Jewish community for controversial comments he had made in a News Center Maine television interview.

During the interview, he had described the war in Gaza as “a genocide,” adding that “there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because, you know, they’re Jewish and, you know, what that means to them with the Holocaust.”

Jackson: Term 'genocide' carries 'particular weight,' for Jews

Although he did not retract his views on the conflict, he acknowledged that the word genocide “carries particular weight for many Jewish families given the Holocaust – the genocide of six million Jews.”

“In trying to acknowledge that, I misspoke and made a generalization about Jewish Mainers’ views that doesn’t reflect what I meant to say. I apologize for the pain that caused,” he added.

Just before the Democratic nominating convention this past summer, Jackson vowed that he would “never vote in favor of US taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel.”

The Pine Tree State Poll, released by the University of New Hampshire two weeks ago, found that the two candidates were in a statistical tie, with 51% of voters polled favoring Jackson and 47% opting for Collins.