Then-US Reps. Cori Bush (left), Jamaal Bowman (right), and Rashida Tlaib (center). Photo: Reuters

The political landscape was dealt a positive development last year when two anti-Israel House Democrats — Jamaal Bowman (NY) and Cori Bush (MO) — were defeated in their respective Congressional primaries.

While America and the 119th Congress are better off without these two agitators using their political perch to smear and slander the Jewish State, pro-Israel Americans should temper reveling in Bowman and Bush’s ouster.

The two former lawmakers have now taken their demonization of Israel and splashed it over their new show — Bowman and Bush — which will be featured once a month on the Zeteo network’s YouTube channel.

Zeteo was launched in April 2024 by Mehdi Hasan, the former MSNBC host and UK-born journalist whose slew of public diatribes targeting Israel, which included falsely accusing Israel of bombing a Gaza hospital, was a step too far, even for MSNBC.

While claiming on its website to be a space for “independent and unfiltered journalism,” the interviews, podcasts, and columns featured on the network confirm that the only thing unfiltered about Zeteo is its raw, unapologetic hostility towards Israel.

That Bowman and Bush would find a home at Hasan’s outlet reflects a new and damaging avenue through which these two individuals, who harbor dangerous beliefs, are able to shape the public discourse surrounding American support for the Jewish State.

During their tenure in Congress, Bush and Bowman’s verbal assaults and unhinged rants targeting Israel intensified, culminating in Bowman’s remarks in November 2023, when, speaking at an anti-Israel protest, he said that the October 7 rape of Israeli women and beheading of babies by Hamas was based on “lies” and “propaganda.”

For her part, the former Missouri Congresswoman has backed ending US support for Israel while accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” during its war against genocidal Hamas terrorists. Bush’s revenge-fueled concession speech last August served as a portent for future plan, when she promised the pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), that she “was coming to tear your kingdom down.”

The depth of understandable disgust for Bowman and Bush galvanized communities nationwide to engage in the political process. Bowman’s primary race against former Westchester County Executive George Latimer was the most expensive primary House contest in US history. Bush’s race, against past St. Louis Prosecutor Wesley Bell, came in second.

Settling in plush chairs and bantering comfortably about their trendy monochromatic outfits, Bowman and Bush, who titled this month’s inaugural show “Let’s Talk AIPAC,” wasted no time steering into their established zone of promoting antisemitic tropes and masquerading their delegitimization of Israel as fighting for “Palestinian Liberation” and standing for “equality.”

The co-hosts devoted the nearly hourlong talk to positioning themselves as victims of the pro-Israel political community and greedy special interest groups, with Bowman saying he believes that Republican oligarchs fund AIPAC.

The duo likely felt that their tirade aimed at Jewish Americans, who overwhelmingly support Israel, could be buoyed by platforming a Jewish guest. With the program entering its final few minutes, Simone Zimmerman, founder of the radical anti-Zionist group IfNotNow, appeared on the screen.

Playing the role of concerned armchair psychologists and fellow haters of Israel, Bowman and Bush projected an easy familiarity with Zimmerman as they shared in their collective horror over watching “a genocide unfold,“ while casting Zimmerman as a sympathetic figure whose anti-Israel activism led to fissures between her and the traditional Zionist community in which she was raised.

The network aims to appeal to a younger and rising progressive cohort of Americans by straddling trendy and welcoming production space with a provocative and diverse lineup of shows. Hasan, who said he received four million dollars from family and friends to help start Zeteo, is pursuing an untapped medium for American progressives.

Zeteo’s mix of programs, columns, and media figures captures today’s red-green alliance, providing leftist connoisseurs with an amalgam of personalities and reading material from which to sift.

Since its launch, Zeteo’s guests have ranged from the serious, such as Democrat Congressman Dean Phillips (MN), who last year appeared on “Mehdi Unfiltered,” to provocative names like Egyptian-born comedian Bassem Youssef, who sat down with Hasan last month on the network’s “We’re Not Kidding” broadcast.

Unfortunately, the end of Sex and the City hasn’t prevented Cynthia Nixon from still appearing on screen, as the actress-turned-anti-Israel activist has a slot on the network called “Stage Left,” where she helps advance Zeteo’s anti-Jewish drift, and its anti-Israel hatefest.

Zeteo’s running list of writers also reflects a disturbing coalition of ideologues promoting an anti-Western ethos that embodies contemporary progressivism.

Americans should not discount Zeteo’s motives or dismiss the network as a marginal media presence. According to its website,  Zeteo has amassed over 600,000 subscribers on its YouTube channel, and is sixth in US political publications on Substack.

Throughout the years, organizations and influencers peddling outlandish and unsavory ideas have been granted footholds in America’s mainstream cultural movement.

Celebrations surrounding Bowman and Bush’s exit from Congress should be met with a dose of humility. No longer confined to following political norms, the end of their Congressional careers does not signal the finale to their years-long anti-Israel and anti-Jewish reel. On the contrary, Bowman and Bush certifies that these two colleagues are still working on their opening scene.

Irit Tratt is an American and pro-Israel advocate residing in New York. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt.