By Adam Pagnucco.
Former Delegate Saqib Ali, who represented District 39 from 2007 through 2011, is deeply involved in an effort to convince Montgomery County leaders to stop funding the Maryland Israel Development Center. And with one county council member now publicly expressing reservations about that funding, it seems that Ali’s campaign might have some traction.
First, some background. The Maryland Israel Development Center (MIDC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that describes its mission as “to foster bilateral economic development between Israel and Maryland.” Its year of formation was 1992. Of the $569,353 in revenue it reported in the year ending on 6/30/24, $361,171 came from government grants or contributions. (This is not itemized by government.) Additionally, it reported “the value of services or facilities furnished by a governmental unit to the organization without charge” at $12,288 annually for the last five years. Among its program services listed on its financial statement it lists “to promote Israeli companies to do business with companies in MD.”
On its website, MIDC describes itself as “a non-profit ‘public-private partnership’ of the Maryland Department of Commerce, Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Trade, and The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore to promote bi-lateral trade and economic development.” Its list of strategic partners includes a number of government-funded entities such as the Maryland Department of Commerce, the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation, Baltimore County Economic and Workforce Development and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. It promotes a variety of services to companies based in Israel and Maryland designed to facilitate investment and trade.
A coalition of groups led by the Al Aqsa Swim Club and the Arab-American Anti Discrimination Committee (Maryland Chapter) opposes funding for MIDC. Among the groups are two chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America, two Our Revolution groups, Peace Action Montgomery and the Walt Whitman High School Muslim Student Association. The groups allege that MIDC associates with “weapons manufacturers” who “use their offices as a launch pad for Pentagon contracts and merging with other war profiteers.”
MIDC’s website promotes links between Israeli and Maryland companies across many industries. That said, I found numerous references to defense firms on its site.
Defense contractor ELTA North America, a subsidiary of Israeli defense firm ELTA Systems Ltd., is listed as a strategic partner by MIDC.
Montgomery County government has been providing non-competitive contracts to MIDC since FY16 (along with MANY other organizations). In FY26, the contract amount is $47,206. The contract purpose is listed as “Provides for support of promoting economic development between Montgomery County and Israel to attract Israeli high-tech, cyber security and bio-health companies to the County.” This is an infinitesimal part of the county’s $7.6 billion operating budget, but it’s more meaningful in the context of MIDC’s budget.
Now to Saqib Ali, a familiar face for those who follow MoCo politics. Ali served one term as a District 39 Delegate before unsuccessfully challenging Senator Nancy King in 2010. (I wrote about that campaign’s history back in 2020.) He ran for delegate in District 15 in 2022, but was defeated by a group of incumbents after his wife alleged abuse and filed for a protective order against him.
Ali is not a fan of Israel. He is a supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and unsuccessfully sued Governor Larry Hogan to challenge an executive order barring boycotts of Israel by state contractors. He frequently criticizes Israel on social media and disrupted a recent county executive forum by repeatedly yelling “genocide” over the moderator and candidates. He has been emailing county candidates asking whether they will continue to fund MIDC.
Most campaigns did not answer, but one did. Last Friday, Ali sent me an email thread in which Dave Kunes, Council Member Will Jawando’s chief of staff, told him that “Will has committed to vote against any future funding for this organization.” Kunes used a campaign email address, not a government email address, in making that statement to Ali. The date of the email was September 2.
The above email was written by Jawando’s chief of staff and not Jawando himself. On Monday, I began asking for an on-the-record confirmation of the council member’s position on the issue. At 11:26 PM last night, I received this statement representing Jawando’s official position.
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I know that people across the ideological spectrum feel strongly about what’s happening in Gaza and Israel, and many people who I deeply respect have very different views. Here’s mine: We should never use Montgomery County tax dollars to support the development or production of offensive weapons, whether that’s bombs or munitions or anything else. For me, that’s a nonstarter and I will always oppose it. That’s one reason my office is looking into exactly how MIDC funds are used. We can’t keep passing an agreement like this on a noncompetitive basis as a line item on a consent agenda, without discussion or examination. We need full transparency here and public deliberation, and I am committed to getting both.
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This article takes no position on whether government funding of MIDC is justified. That said, let’s make a few observations.
Views of Israel have been changing rapidly among Democratic voters over the last two years. Recent polls by Quinnipiac, the Economist/YouGov and Gallup have found large majorities of Democrats disapproving of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. The Washington Post recently chronicled growing resistance by Congressional Democrats to further arms sales to Israel. And Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and Congressman Jamie Raskin have all gone on record as supporting limits on at least some arms sales to Israel.
Montgomery Perspective is a site about government and politics in Maryland and Montgomery County. This site does not comment on purely international issues. But county government funding for MIDC gives this matter a local dimension. County officials control county money. If voters care about this issue, candidates for office should anticipate being asked about it. Ali and his allies certainly show no sign of relenting judging by their dramatic demonstrations at the last county executive forum.
We shall see what role this issue plays – if any – in the upcoming election.