By John Friend
So much for Russian meddling and interference in U.S. elections. That entirely baseless, discredited conspiracy theory, which continues to be hysterically promoted by delusional political pundits and dishonest politicians even to this very day, has largely lost traction with anyone paying attention to American politics.
A must more sinister, well-financed, and highly motivated foreign adversary is, however, increasingly using its financial war chest, media clout, and political connections to interfere in and influence U.S. elections, including the upcoming 2024 election.
The infamous American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the stridently pro-Israel political lobby more commonly known by its acronym AIPAC, is spending millions of dollars in this upcoming election, funneling money to handpicked candidates deemed sufficiently subservient to advancing the interests of Israel in targeted campaigns to oust critics of Israel, particularly in the wake of its genocidal military campaign against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
AIPAC is also behind the United Democracy Project, a super PAC directed by the powerful pro-Israel lobby which has long dominated Capitol Hill. The PAC is reportedly set to spend over $100 million in the upcoming election, mostly in an effort to target progressive candidates who have criticized Israel and object to the barbaric military offensive the Israel Defense Force has launched against the largely defenseless Palestinians, which has resulted in nearly 30,000 deaths as AFP goes to press.
In an article recently published by Politico, the Washington, D.C.-based political daily, it was reported that “AIPAC is expected to spend $100 million across its political entities in 2024, taking aim at candidates they deem insufficiently supportive of Israel.”
Many of those being targeted have called for a ceasefire in the Middle East and have openly criticized Benjamin Netanyahu, the longtime Israeli politician and war hawk who currently serves as prime minister. Netanyahu and leading officials in his government have openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the resettlement of the strip with Israeli settlers, enraging many in the West sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians.
Following the purported “surprise attack” led by Hamas and other Palestinian resistance fighters on Israel last Oct. 7, the “pro-Israel donor base became activated, engaged and concerned at a level that is unprecedented,” Mark Mellman, the president of a pro-Israel super PAC called Democratic Majority for Israel, explained to Politico.
The Oct. 7 attack “mobilized a lot of thousand-dollar-level donors, which, obviously, are not the Miriam Adelsons,” an anonymous source also told Politico, referring to the Adelson family which has long been a top political donor in U.S. politics who are fanatically dedicated to Israel and supportive of candidates who will do Israel’s bidding in Congress. “But these donors are still super powerful, especially when you look down ballot. It’s a huge, underappreciated change to the landscape.”
Political candidates backed by AIPAC and other powerful pro-Israel groups usually fare quite well in U.S. elections, largely due to the massive financial contributions and favorable media coverage awarded to such candidates. Following the recent primaries in early March, the official X profile of AIPAC bragged on the popular social media platform that “all 32 AIPAC-endorsed Democrats won their primary election last night, including 28 members of the Equality Caucus, 14 members of the Hispanic Caucus, 10 members of the Progressive Caucus, and 5 members of the Black Caucus.”
“AIPAC is proud to support pro-Israel Democrats,” the group declared. “Being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics!”
Many, however, are increasingly critical of the pro-Israel lobby epitomized by groups like AIPAC and their blatant interference in U.S. elections. Former world champion MMA and UFC fighter Jake Shields, who boasts over 600,000 followers on X, pointed out that AIPAC “is the only lobby that doesn’t have to register as a foreign” agent and who take the hundreds of billions of dollars U.S. taxpayers have sent to Israel over the years “send it back to fund pro-Israel candidates.”
“This is clear foreign election interference,” Shields noted. “All 32 candidates [backed by AIPAC] won their [primary] election.”
