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<\/a><\/p>\n(Screenshot via YouTube)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Graham Platner, who went on to overwhelmingly win the nomination, did not stint on using the term. Platner is out after accusations of sexual assault, and Wood is once again running in the abbreviated primary to replace him. (Platner has denied the accusations.)<\/p>\n
And now the former congressional staffer is changing his tune.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe we can\u2019t continue to fund Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza,\u201d Wood wrote on social media last week. \u201cIt\u2019s a moral atrocity. We should be using our taxpayer dollars to fund schools, healthcare, and childcare here at home, not on bombing innocent civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last November, Wood said he was concerned the word was so loaded as to be dangerous. He told Democratic commentator Kaivan Shroff that he believed Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, but stopped short of using the term genocide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve hesitated on it because I\u2019m also seeing a real rise in antisemitism in the United States,\u201d Wood said then. \u201cMy husband is Jewish, and the acts of violence toward Jewish Americans is very much connected to the language that we use.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be \u201ca huge deal for the United States Congress to designate what\u2019s going on in Gaza as a genocide officially,\u201d Wood said <\/p>\n
\u201cThere could be consequences to that of U.S. citizens that have served in the IDF,\u201d he said. \u201cDo they get prosecuted?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood\u2019s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on what prompted him to adopt the term.<\/p>\n
The Maine Democratic Party has until July 27 to nominate a replacement for Platner, an anti-Israel progressive, in hopes of unseating GOP Sen. Susan Collins. <\/p>\n
Three other major candidates for the Democratic nomination \u2014 Troy Jackson, Nirav Shah and Shenna Bellows \u2014 have also accused Israel of having committed genocide since launching their campaigns, underscoring the shrinking popularity of Israel among Democratic voters and politicians in the wake of its war in Gaza. The language may also reflect Platner\u2019s success in making Israel an issue in the race. <\/p>\n
In an interview this week with The Advocate, Wood criticized the embattled Platner, while saying that he would \u201ccarry on that platform\u201d that had energized Maine voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI separate Graham, the movement, from the person,\u201d Wood said. He pointed to issues like conditioning aid to Israel and rejecting money from corporate PACs and AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, as priorities that he shared with Platner.<\/p>\n
Wood told Shroff in November that he would not take money from AIPAC, and added that there is a \u201chuge amount of distrust\u201d of the pro-Israel lobbying organization among Democratic voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe the only way to truly prove to a voter that you are voting and prioritizing policies in their best interest, and for our country\u2019s best interest, is to remove any perception of corruption or misdealing,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n
He has also been consistent in saying that he would vote in support of Vermont independent Bernie Sanders\u2019 resolutions to block the sales of certain weapons to Israel, while maintaining that that shouldn\u2019t mean halting the U.S.-Israel relationship altogether.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States should absolutely have a cooperative relationship with Israel, and I want that relationship to work. But a real partnership is not a blank check,\u201d Wood told Jewish Insider last week. \u201cIt comes with honesty and accountability. The United States has enormous leverage with the Israeli government, and we\u2019ve been refusing to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood and a number of other candidates will participate in a televised debate on CNN on Thursday night, ahead of the July 27 nominating convention.<\/p>\n