Inside AIPAC’s Strategy to Back Israel’s Cheerleaders and Punish the Squad

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) voted in favor of the $14 billion aid package that passed the House on Nov. 2. He said his vote was intended to ​“send an unwavering signal to the world” in support of Israel. In 2022, like Johnson, Gottheimer received more from AIPAC in campaign contributions than he did from any other group. He received nearly $217,000 from individuals and PACs affiliated with AIPAC.

Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) offered another pro-Israel resolution that passed the House on Oct. 25. Like Schumer, they both took major campaign contributions from AIPAC.

“Now is the time to show the world [that] the United States firmly stands with our friend and ally Israel in our condemnation of this heinous attack by Iran-backed terrorists,” McCaul, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said on Oct. 10.

McCaul received nearly $8,000 from AIPAC’s PAC in the 2022 election cycle.

Meeks, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, took more money in campaign contributions from AIPAC than from any other sources in 2022. He received $52,550 that year.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) is another lawmaker who introduced a pro-Israel resolution condemning Hamas in October. AIPAC’s United Democracy Project spent $3.9 million supporting her 2022 congressional race.

In that race, the United Democracy Project also spent $342,000 successfully attacking Stevens’ opponent, former Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), a former synagogue president who has advocated for Palestinian rights.

Last year, AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr explained to the Washington Post why the organization became involved in the race: ​“It was Congressman Levin’s willingness to defend and endorse some of the largest and most vocal detractors of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he said.

In the 2022 cycle, Stevens took more contributions from AIPAC than from any other source: $681,000. The same year, she received more money from AIPAC than any other politician in Congress except one, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), who has recently voiced his support for Israel as well.

AIPAC has also recently spent millions on lobbying around federal policy. AIPAC reportedly lobbied in support of the $14 billion House aid bill. From the beginning of January to the end of September, AIPAC has spent $2.25 million on federal lobbying efforts about a variety of issues including legislation to sanction Hamas, condemn Iran’s nuclear weapons, and conduct research with Israel on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Targeting opponents

Not every lawmaker is offering unequivocal support of Israel, though. Nine House Democrats voted against a resolution that ​“reaffirms the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security.” Among them are Reps. Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Lee.

These lawmakers have also joined several others in co-sponsoring Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-Mo.) resolution calling for ​“an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.” There are now 18 representatives who have signed on to the resolution, including Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). As of Nov. 20, 40 lawmakers have called for a ceasefire.

Bush recently posted on X (formerly Twitter): ​“As a Black woman in America, I’m acutely aware of feeling unsafe in this country. I denounce every instance of antisemitism and Islamophobia, and every form of racism and bigotry. Always.”

AIPAC responded: ​“Always, @CoriBush? What about when your colleague @RashidaTlaib glorified a call for genocide against the only Jewish state?”

These sorts of moves by legislators generally make them targets for AIPAC, if they weren’t targets already, as the lobbying group frequently tries to stymie progressive candidates either by supporting their challengers or running attack ads.

“The sole factor for supporting Democratic and Republican candidates is their support for strengthening the US-Israel relationship,” Marshall Wittmann, a spokesperson for AIPAC, told The Intercept last year. ​“Indeed, our PACs have supported scores of pro-Israel progressive candidates, including over half of the Congressional Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucus and almost half of the Progressive Caucus. Our political involvement has shown that it is entirely consistent with progressive values to support America’s alliance with our democratic ally, Israel.”

“I sat in AIPAC staff meetings at which the political director discussed whom ​‘we’ would be supporting in this campaign and whom ​‘we’ were going to ​‘destroy’ in that one,” Rosenberg, the former AIPAC employee, wrote.

Matthew Kassel reported in Jewish Insider this summer that AIPAC is looking to recruit Minneapolis councilmember LaTrisha Vetaw to challenge Omar in the coming election cycle. AIPAC has reportedly ​“met with Vetaw and engaged in ongoing conversations to convince her to enter the primary.”

“AIPAC,” Kassel wrote, ​“appears to be embracing a more aggressive strategy as it seeks to pick off a handful of incumbents who have been unusually hostile to Israel, particularly in recent weeks.”

AIPAC is also in talks with a potential challenger to Bowman, Westchester County executive George Latimer. In late October, Bowman spoke at a ceasefire rally. ​“I am ashamed, quite ashamed to be a member of Congress at times when Congress doesn’t value every single life,” he said.

Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a summer fundraising email that her team ​“just got word: AIPAC is at it again. They’re trying to recruit an establishment executive to run against my brother in The Bronx, Jamaal Bowman. We know what comes next. AIPAC won’t wait much longer to start funneling dark money against Jamaal and ramping up attacks against our movement.”

Ocasio-Cortez spoke out against AIPAC in late October, tweeting that the group was ​“racist and bigoted.”

The same day, New York Times reporter Nicholas Fandos wrote that ​“Perhaps no race promises to be so explosive, expensive or symbolically charged a test of the Democratic Party’s direction as a potential matchup between Mr. Bowman and Mr. Latimer.”

“Ceasefire now”

The United Democracy Project has been pouring huge sums of money into challenging progressives since its launch in 2021. The arm of AIPAC spent nearly $3.3 million against Lee in her 2022 election race and another $660,000 boosting her primary opponent.

And the United Democracy Project has begun regularly airing ads attacking Lee and Bowman for their stance on Israel.

Omar has faced particular scrutiny from AIPAC. In response to a 2019 tweet saying Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was threatening Omar and Tlaib over their stance on Israel, Omar tweeted: ​“It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” quoting lyrics from the rapper Diddy. She apologized after facing a wave of criticism alleging that she had used antisemitic tropes to make her point.

Last year, the United Democracy Project gave $350,000 to Make a Difference MN05, a super PAC supporting Omar’s primary opponent, Don Samuels. That same challenger recently announced he would again mount a run against the progressive incumbent.

Bush, who’s leading the cease-fire resolution, is facing a pro-Israel challenger, Wesley Bell, in the next election cycle. He traveled to Israel with AIPAC in 2017, but declined to say if he has been engaged with AIPAC recently.

When the Washington Post asked Bell why he is running against Bush, he mentioned her stance on Israel. ​“I think we have to stand with our allies, and Israel has always been an ally,” Bell said.

Still, despite its continued deep sway in Washington, a handful of lawmakers are fighting AIPAC’s influence and pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza.

In addition to Ocasio-Cortez’s critical statement calling the group ​“extremist,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) recently said of AIPAC’s strategy: ​“since they clearly don’t care about dead kids, it’s all about backing a conservative Netanyahu position.” And Bush recently tweeted a video claiming: ​“AIPAC lies… AIPAC incites violence against Black and brown members of Congress. We won’t back down. Ceasefire now.”