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Witness urges subcommittee to reallocate MIDC grant, alleges ties between Israeli manufacturers and military actions
Summary
A public witness urged the subcommittee to reallocate a grant to the Maryland Israel Development Center, alleging the group recruits Israeli defense contractors and linking those firms to military actions; the claims were presented as the witness’s testimony and not adjudicated at the hearing.
Susan Kern, a member of the Maryland chapter of the Arab American Anti‑Discrimination Committee, used her public testimony during the Medco hearing to ask the subcommittee to rescind or reallocate a state grant to the Maryland Israel Development Center (MIDC).
Kern said MIDC recruits Israeli defense manufacturers to the state and accused two entities she named — Rafael (Bethesda) and Elta (Arundel Mills) — of being “part of the Israeli military” and “war profiteers.” She told the panel: “There is evidence that they have been engaged in recent and direct war crimes,” and argued that the state appropriation to MIDC conflicted with Marylanders’ values. Kern also said, as a claim, that “$280,000,000 from Marylanders through our federal taxes were used to do this.”
Kern asked that the subcommittee reallocate the MIDC grant to what she described as “alternative life‑affirming business development enterprises.” Her testimony was received as public comment; there was no committee action recorded in response to her remarks during the hearing.
The subcommittee transcript records Kern’s statements as testimony; the claims she made about corporate and military involvement were presented by Kern and not verified during the hearing. No agency representative appeared in the transcript to respond to Kern’s allegations on the record at that session.
