The pro-Israel lobby faces challenges amid the Gaza war and changing politics
AIPAC, the pro-Israel group that has long been among Washington’s most powerful lobbying forces, faces intense challenges as it tries to maintain bipartisan support for Israel during the war in Gaza — even as it alienates some Democrats with its increasingly aggressive policies. tactics.
While AIPAC has traditionally enjoyed strong support from members of both parties, in recent years it has taken on a more overt political role by helping finance electoral challenges to left-wing Democrats it views as insufficiently supportive. The tension has been exacerbated by divisions within the Democratic Party over Israel against the backdrop of rising civilian casualties in Gaza and the barriers Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has erected to humanitarian aid.
AIPAC has also had to deal with the complicated politics of foreign aid on Capitol Hill, where money for Israel has become entangled in the dispute over providing aid to Ukraine. Under former President Donald J. Trump’s administration, many of AIPAC’s traditional allies on the right have opposed additional funding for Ukraine, preventing the House of Representatives from moving forward with legislation that would also provide billions to Israel. It is a stalemate that the group has so far been unable to help resolve.
“I think they’re having a bit of an identity crisis,” Martin S. Indyk, the U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Bill Clinton and special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks under President Barack Obama, said of AIPAC. “It is disguised by their formidable ability to raise money, but their lives have become very complicated.”
AIPAC’s aggressiveness and the challenges it faces became clear this week when the group — formally the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — brought together about 1,600 donors and senior lawmakers from both parties, including Chairman Mike Johnson and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic majority. leader, to gather support and show his strength. Mr Netanyahu spoke to the group video link on Tuesday.
A separate video montage played for donors at the conference showed Democratic members of Congress criticizing Israel or expressing support for the Palestinians. Officials at AIPAC, which is led by Howard Kohr, its CEO, urged donors to fund the group’s efforts to defeat some of its members. One panel consisted of two challengers who took on the Democratic incumbents targeted by AIPAC.
But speakers and donors also pushed back against suggestions that the group would turn against the Democratic Party’s left flank. They emphasized AIPAC’s support for pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans in the ideologies of their respective parties. AIPAC donors, they noted, traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to visit members of Congress from both parties, including Democrats who identify as progressive, to seek support for the relief package.
“Most people are not purely liberal or purely conservative,” said Mark E. Ginsburg, a New York surgeon who attended the conference. “AIPAC is an important part of the pro-Israel lobby and is evolving with the times.”
Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who attended a reception for conference participants Monday evening, said: “It is critical that they bring and keep Republicans and Democrats together.”
AIPAC has recently criticized at least one Republican lawmaker, but its campaign spending for this year’s elections is largely focused on opposing candidates in the Democratic primary who it believes are not in line with its agenda. AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has already spent money defeating candidates in Democratic primaries for House of Representatives seats in California and Illinois seen as insufficiently supportive of Israel, including a Chicago community organizer who supports Israel’s offensive in Gaza has described as “genocide.”
And AIPAC has defeated its nearest – albeit much smaller – rival, the more forgiving pro-Israel group J Street, which has criticized Mr Netanyahu and called for a negotiated stop to the war.
J Street “is many things,” AIPAC has said repeatedly on social media“but it is not pro-Israel.”
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, responded: “Intracommunal bickering and organizational food fights do nothing to advance the security and well-being of the people of Israel.”
AIPAC’s naked approach has led to protests. On Monday, a coalition of progressive advocacy groups launched an initiative called “Reject AIPAC,” an effort to counter this $100 million that AIPAC is expected to spend to defeat congressional candidates who have criticized civilian suffering in Gaza caused by Israel’s war against Hamas.
Marshall Wittmann, a spokesman for AIPAC, said in a statement: “Our sole criterion for evaluating candidates from both parties is their position on strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship. We believe that it is fully consistent with progressive values to stand with the Jewish state.” Regarding the anti-AIPAC initiative, he added: “We will not be deterred in our efforts by an extremist anti-Israel fringe.”
Last week, Dave Min, a California Democrat targeted by AIPAC, won despite a victory in his primary A $4.7 million boost against him by United Democracy Project.
AIPAC donors have told some candidates that if they accept J Street’s endorsement, they will not get AIPAC’s support, said two people with knowledge of such warnings.
Some Democrats say AIPAC’s tactics have had a chilling effect in Congress.
“I’ve seen people say I really can’t vote this way because I don’t want an AIPAC opponent,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, Democrat of Wisconsin and an outspoken critic of the group. “That’s said a lot.”
AIPAC remains one of the most powerful interest groups in Washington. It raised a record amount of money in 2023, and its super PAC started this year with more than $40 million to spend on campaigns. Some of the biggest donors are Republicans, such as hedge fund manager Paul Singer and WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum.
AIPAC’s political action committee and super PAC “have given the pro-Israel community a stronger voice in the political process by directly helping elect pro-Israel candidates and defeating opponents,” Mr. Wittmann said.
Founded in the 1950s, AIPAC for years largely eschewed taking on incumbents by funding challenges from candidates who might be more supportive of its agenda.
But the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, negotiated in 2015 despite fierce opposition from AIPAC, prompted the group to take a different approach, as did the growing prominence of a new generation of Democratic progressives who are not so reflexively loyal were to Israel.
Friends of the organization urged the organization to take a more aggressive stance, said an activist involved in these discussions, including by launching primary challenges to incumbents whose commitment to Israel appeared inadequate.
United Democracy Project and AIPAC Political Action Committee launched in late 2021. During the 2022 midterm elections, AIPAC’s super PAC endorsed candidates in nearly a dozen Democratic primaries, winning most of them, including in a race between two incumbents.
Then came the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Israel’s conduct in the conflict has divided Democrats and left Israel increasingly isolated internationally, underscoring the importance for AIPAC of maintaining the support of the United States.
“The world is kind of abandoning Israel right now,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, after meeting with AIPAC members from his district at the reception on Monday. “So that’s what they’re concerned about.”
AIPAC’s influence depends heavily on its ability to assemble top donors, like those it convened just outside Washington for this week’s summit — many of whom had pledged to donate $10,000 or more through AIPAC’s political operation to candidates who were supported by the group, according to those present.
Officials urged donors to give more, deeming the moment perilous for the group’s mission, even as the programming demonstrated AIPAC’s lasting influence.
On Sunday evening, Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, spoke at the conference. On Monday, attendees heard from President Biden’s Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, as well as Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, and Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet. Mr. Gantz warned the crowd that an Israeli invasion of Rafah — the area in southern Gaza where Hamas leaders are believed to be hiding — was a matter of when, not if, one listener said.
Mr. Schumer received a standing ovation when he declared that “as long as Hamas exists, there will never be a two-state solution,” according to two people who heard his comments, “where Israel and a Palestinian state live side by side. peace, prosperity, security and dignity.”