Jake Johnson
Common Dreams / August 28, 2024
AIPAC’s billionaire-funded super PAC has helped defeat two of the most vocal opponents of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful lobbying group widely known as AIPAC, has officially spent more than $100 million in the 2024 election cycle so far, pouring staggering sums into Democratic primary races in an effort to unseat progressive opponents of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
Citing new Federal Election Commission filings, Sludge reported Tuesday that AIPAC’s political action committee had spent $44.8 million as of the end of last month, mostly on donations to political campaigns and party organizations. The United Democracy Project (UDP), AIPAC’s super PAC, has spent $55.4 million so far, bringing AIPAC’s total spending this cycle to just over $100 million—surpassing its reported spending target for 2024 races.
AIPAC money has already made a significant impact, helping a pair of pro-Israel Democrats defeat progressive Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—two of Congress’ most vocal critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza—in recent primary contests.
“Supporting Palestinian rights is becoming so popular among American voters that pro-genocide groups have to spend over $100 million to hold on.”
Sludge noted that UDP’s financial support for Bowman’s primary opponent, George Latimer, “set a record for spending by an outside group on a House election.”
“A very bad sign for democracy that MAGA billionaires are spending this much money to shape our politics,” the youth-led Sunrise Movement wrote in response to the new spending figures, referring to the Republican mega-donors who have fueled spending by AIPAC-aligned groups.
Politico reported in June that AIPAC has been “the biggest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries this year.”
Sludge pointed out Tuesday that billionaire Jan Koum, the former WhatsApp CEO who helped bankroll Nikki Haley’s failed presidential bid, is the top donor to AIPAC’s super PAC.
“Other UDP donors in recent months have included the following: David Messer, CEO of Freepoint Commodities, who gave another $250,000 on July 1; Martin Geller, CEO of financial firm Geller & Company, who gave an additional $268,000 on June 25; and Frank Blair, equity portfolio manager at Capital Group, who gave an additional $200,000 in May,” Sludge reported.
While lamenting the outsized influence that UDP and other billionaire-funded groups are able to wield in the U.S. political system, some observers have argued that AIPAC’s aggressive spending is a sign of desperation in the face of growing public opposition to Israel’s mass atrocities in Gaza. A majority of Democratic voters view Israel’s war on Gaza as genocide, according to one recent survey.
“Supporting Palestinian rights is becoming so popular among American voters that pro-genocide groups have to spend over $100 million to hold on,” said Beth Miller, policy director at Jewish Voice for Peace.
Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams
