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A super PAC with Republican ties is running digital ads in Michigan promoting the Jewish faith of Kamala Harris’ husband and touting Harris’ support for Israel — an apparently cynical play to undercut Harris with the battleground state’s large Arab American population amid ongoing political fallout over the war in Gaza.

The super PAC, Future Coalition PAC, has spent nearly $60,000 running several YouTube ads targeting exclusively Michigan, according to Google’s Ads Transparency Center. Each of the ads emphatically states Harris’ support for Israel, and many pointedly highlight her husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish. The New York Times first reported on the ads.

One of the ads from the group hones in on the role of Harris’ husband Emhoff, including images of Emhoff wearing a yamaka, and of the second gentleman visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“Kamala Harris is a strong leader for these difficult times. And joining Kamala will be her husband and top adviser, Doug Emhoff. Doug Emhoff, who would be the first Jewish presidential spouse ever. Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff: making history, standing up for what’s right, supporting Israel.”

Another one of the ads opens, “Vice President Harris has chosen a side, the right side. Harris has made herself clear: she stands with Israel and the Jewish people. She has, again and again. She understands the unbreakable bond between the US and Israel.”

The ads — which are framed positively and accompanied by stirring music — would appear to be in support of Harris’ presidential bid – but the group behind them and their precise targeting in battleground Michigan suggest a more cynical motive.

Formed earlier this month, Future Coalition PAC has not yet filed a report detailing its donors or fundraising with the Federal Election Commission. Other filings from the group, however, include GOP links; the group lists as its assistant treasurer Cabell Hobbs, who served as the treasurer for a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential bid.

In addition, the ads are exclusively running in Michigan, one of seven top battleground states that are poised to decide the 2024 election, and which is home to a large Arab American population. The ads appear aimed at stoking divisions spilling from the ongoing war in Gaza, and undercutting Harris’ efforts to patch up the fraying Democratic coalition that includes those voters there.