AIPAC is extremely powerful when it comes to foreign policy, which is not usually an issue in US domestic politics, with a few exceptions here and there, when foreign policy was centre-stage in American politics like, for example, during the Vietnam War. The Israeli Genocide this election year took centre-stage, thanks to progressive representatives who could not keep quiet about what the US-backed Israeli army is doing.
There are many reasons that make AIPAC a pretty formidable political force. The top three reasons are: AIPCA is part of a larger pro-Israel lobby called Christians United for Israel (CUFI); it is very focused on one cause: support for Israel, no matter what and, above all, the organisation has access to vast amounts of money to spend, particularly during an election year like this one. The lobby knows how and where to put its cash to determine who becomes a state legislator, governor, member of a small obscure municipality, member of congress or president of the US. The lobby never shies away from any political race anywhere across America as long as such a political contest is somehow related, in any way, to Israel.
Furthermore, AIPAC uses its influence across all possible venues and platforms, including the media, which usually help shape public opinion within any given individual state all the way to the top, including the White House and the Congress. Media coverage during elections plays a critical role in winning or losing, and such coverage, of course, requires money.
Because the war in Gaza has been the top foreign policy issue in the 2024 US elections, both presidential and congressional, AIPAC is making sure that any person wanting to run for Congress or seeking re-election must be pro-Israel, or at least does not criticise the apartheid state in any way using any kind of “harsh” words such “apartheid”.
This year, AIPAC has allocated $100 million to silence the increasingly rising dissent in both Republican and Democratic parties, with particularly focus on known Democrats who tend to criticise the US policy and the Biden Administration’s unreserved support for Israel. The lobby has already scored some victories, however, at a huge cost in terms of funding. By the end of last July, AIPAC has already surpassed its allocated budget, meaning it is determined and resolved in using cash to buy potential candidates, while unseating dissidents.
Last June, the pro-Israeli lobby spent $15million to unseat Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic Congressman seeking the nomination of his party for re-election in the 16th congressional district of New York. AIPAC, and many other groups, financed mainly by big Republican donors, have pumped some $28.3million to help Mr. Bowman’s rival, George Latimer, win the nomination. Mr. Bowman has been punished, not by voters dissatisfied with his performance, but simply because he accused Israel of genocide in Gaza—a fact hardly disputed by anybody, except Israel itself, US foreign policy makers and Biden’s White House, which he criticised for its unreserved support for Israel while killing Palestinian women, children and the elderly.
Nobody, including his fiercest critics, AIPAC, has accused Mr. Bowman of working against the interest of his country or harming its stand on the world stage. They only wanted to unseat him simply because he spoke out against the Israeli genocide going on in Gaza for the last ten months, killing nearly 41,000 civilians while injuring over 94,000 more, most of whom are women and children, and counting. In fact, Mr. Bowman’s congressional record shows a patriotic US citizen, very mindful of his country’s interests and reputation among other nations.
In the State of Missouri, AIPAC almost entirely funded Wesley Bell to defeat Congresswoman, Cori Bush, as she sought the nomination of the Democratic Party for re-election. Again, Ms. Bush got into the crosshairs of AIPAC simply because she told the truth about Israel and how Washington’s help to Tel Aviv is harming US interests and covering up the mass murder and starvation Israel is committing in Gaza. Last November, she explained her position by saying that speaking out helps people “get to the root — so that we can actually fix the problem”— the problem here being the blind US support for Israel, harming the US itself.
AIPAC’s focus primarily targets all progressive Congress members seeking re-election, with special focus on all members of the “Squad”—a group of US legislators known to fight for a progressive agenda, which includes House members, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. This group of lawmakers focuses on grassroots issues, but they are very critical of US foreign policy and its support for Israel. They have been calling for a ceasefire and accountability for Israel’s actions in the Palestinian enclave.
The Squad is a new phenomenon in US politics that has not been seen for decades. All its members came from humble beginnings and all stood for shared grassroots causes, like gender equality, human rights and anti-social discrimination. However, the Israeli war in Gaza and the complicit position of the Biden Administration and its unequivocal support for Israel forced the group to take a position, not only because some of Squad members are pro-Palestinian – which is not generally the case – but mainly because the genocide in Gaza is against everything they represent. They simply could not sit by while US money is helping Israel to continue its crimes.
But AIPAC also knows where to spend its money. While Representatives like Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez and Omar are always targeted by the lobby, not much is being done, money-wise, to unseat them this year. All Squad members have already won their primaries with large majorities in their respective constituencies. In cases like this, AIPAC believes it is a lost cause to fight such individuals, given their respective huge popularities. The same happened with Republican Representative, Thomas Massie, of Kentucky’s 4th congressional district. He won his primary last May, despite AIPAC’s estimated $400,000 spent to defeat him. Mr. Massie has been critical of US funding of Israel and other countries.
Clearly, lobbying groups like AIPAC and others, which only care about US support for Israel, are endangering the US system from the inside by making support for Israel, even if it harms US interests, a prerequisite for anyone wishing to contest elections at any level. However, one of the unintended consequences of this is making foreign policy an increasingly domestic issue in federal and state elections, which has been the case with the war on Gaza.
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