Democrats and Aipac on Collision Course?

Spending $100-million in 2024 to defeat Democratic primary candidates who refused to toe Aipac’s pro-Israel line, the. Israel Lobby managed to sabotage not just the Party, but the entire election process.  Aipac, the most powerful American domestic lobby, plays a major role in destroying election integrity, a key element of American democracy.

In addition, many of the donors to the pro-Israel PACs raising these funds are billionaire MAGA Republicans.  In effect, the Party is allowing Republican donors to interfere in, and shape the Democratic Congressional caucus. This is a major reason why Democrats have been ineffectual in their response to Gaza.  In effect, this quiescence has been programmed, thanks to the pro-Israel politics of the Israel Lobby caucus in Congress.  That includes not only refusing to criticize Israel, but also votes for arms shipments to Israel.  Tainted pro-Israel cash goes a long way to destroying the Party.

Its goal was to defeat progressive primary candidates who would criticize Israel.  They want a quiescent Congress which ratifies every arms shipment and offers Israel every possible benefit; and to shape the Democratic Party into a pro-Israel toadie. Though results in the past election were mixed, the Lobby defeated LGBTQ, Muslim-American, women and even Jewish candidates in Michigan, North Carolina, Maryland, Missouri, and Oregon.

Aipac and its two clone-PACs, the Democratic Majority for Israel and United Democracy Project were overjoyed with the results of boatloads of cash in the primaries.  They defeated Black, female, Muslim-American candidates in multiple states, confirming the racist, misogynist and Islamophobic dog whistles in these campaigns.  They succeeded in seeding Congress with their new Lobby-endorsed clones, who would suitably grateful and vote for every piece of legisltation it proposed.  Among them were Shontel Brown ($1-million), Shri Thanedar ($2.3-million), Haley Stevens ($1-million), Foushee, Angela Alsobrooks ($400,000), George Latimer ($1.6-million) and Wesley Bell ($800,000), Sarah Elfreth ($6.2-million), Maxine Dexter ($5.2-million). Their intra-Party coup and long-term domination of its Israel-related discourse, seemed assured.

The Party’s Congressional leadership offered a wink and a nod to this egregious interference into its internal processes.  The Lobby donors made sure to dump millions on these senators and Congress members (including Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer) in order to ensure their loyalty.

Despite howls of outrage from the Squad and Progressive Caucus, Pelosi and Schumer remained mute.  Any money is good money, was their motto. It complained about the undue influence and demanded Democrats end this practice.  Though the leadership yawned in response, the message trickled down to the rank and file.  Many sitting members are now swearing off Aipac cash in their next election. Among them is Valerie Foushee, who took $800,000 from the pro-Israel PACs in her successful campaign to defeat Nida Allam, a Muslim-American candidate.  Rep. Seth Moulton, who is challenging Sen. Ed Markey for a Massachusetts senate seat, announced he was returning Aipac donatons.

However, Moulton has only affirmed he was returning Aipac donations.  There are two other pro-Israel PACs affiliated with it which also distribute massive amounts of cash.  He could just as easily funnel future donations through them.  Also, once a pro-Israel primary candidate wins a seat, the power of incumbency offers them the luxury of cutting off such funding.

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They are not doing this for altruistic reasons or in an effort to protect American democracy.  They are doing it because they realize the Party’s voters are sick and tired of this distortion and will punish them at the polls unless they put a stop to it. In fact, a recent poll by a Democratic pollster asked voters in nine Midwestern swing districts whether they would refuse to vote for candidates accepting pro-Israel campaign cash. 48% said they would not. When questioned about their views of the Israel Lobby only 14% has a favorable view. 52% were unfavorable. The result for Israel were 14% favorable to 50% unfavorable. Netanyahu was 6/74. Palestine was 60/12.

Favorable/Unfavorable of Israel/Palestine issues:

Israel — 27/50
Palestine — 60/13
Netanyahu — 6/74
AIPAC — 16/40
Pro-Israel lobby — 14/52
UN — 73/7
Doctors w/out Borders — 82/3 pic.twitter.com/tVwc907vsJ

— Matthew Eadie (@mattheweadie22) October 19, 2025

Aipac recognizes that the Gaza genocide has tarnished the Israeli “brand,” and reputations of the various Israel Lobby organizations (among them the Anti Defamation League, American Jewish Committee).  Two years of genocide has worn down support among the public and elected officials.  As Congressional candidates increasingly distance themselves from it, the Lobby needs to reset its image among the public. They’re attempting to do this is via a marketing campaign. A key element of this is a breezy AI video (see above) which declares it is a wholesome all-American group.  The production is strange because all of the characters are AI-generated, giving the impression of artificiality and even manipulation through the creation of quasi-human figures.

The main problem with the video is that it fails as a rebranding effort because Aipac is selling the same pro-Israel policies it always supported. There is nothing new about the video.  It doesn’t respond directly to the criticisms leveled against it or even establish a new approach to its electoral campaigns.  You can’t put lipstick on a pig.