(JNS) A new senior Pentagon adviser repeatedly said that U.S. support for Israel was due to money from the “Israeli lobby” and accused prominent political figures, including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, of getting “very, very rich” from their support for the Jewish state–echoing the antisemitic tropes of Israeli control of the U.S. government and Jewish money controlling politics and policy. Retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, who became a senior adviser to acting U.S. Defense Secretary Christopher Miller last week, made the remarks in two media appearances in 2012 and 2019.

When asked in a September 2019 interview  if then-U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sought war with Iran, Macgregor said, “Mr. Bolton has become very, very rich, and is in the position he’s in because of his unconditional support for the Israeli lobby. He is their man on the ground in the White House. …The same thing is largely true for Mr. Pompeo, he has aspirations to be president. He has his hands out for money from the Israeli lobby, the Saudis and others.”

In a  2012 interview with the Russian-state outlet RT, Macgregor alleged that the Israel lobby has “enormous influence” on Congress and accused the lobby of “pushing military action” against Iran. “I think the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its subordinate elements or affiliated elements that represent enormous quantities of money that over many years have cultivated an enormous influence in power in Congress.” 

In a tweet on Friday, AIPAC called Macgregor’s remarks “ill-informed and illegitimate.”

“We are proud that we are engaged in the democratic process to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship. Our bipartisan efforts are reflective of American values and interests. We will not be deterred in any way by ill-informed and illegitimate attacks on this important work,” tweeted AIPAC.

Earlier this year, Macgregor he was nominated as U.S. ambassador to Germany to succeed Richard Grenell, but his nomination stalled in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee due to past controversial comments.

Main Photo: Douglas Macgregor. right, appears on Fox News, Dec. 30, 2019. (Screen shot)