When Americans criticize Israel—whether it be policies or the country’s mere existence—it’s not long before they start picking the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) apart. The AIPAC is the main pro-Israel lobby group in the United States. AIPAC prides itself on being a bipartisan organization and hosting the largest convocation of elected officials at its annual policy conference.
Like any lobby, AIPAC is subject to criticism, and the past few years have made some supporters more apprehensive about their work. But the hyper-fixation many American progressives have on AIPAC is not productive criticism so much as it is antisemitism.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with AIPAC members in Israel
(Photo: Kobi Gideon, GPO)
Politicians, such as members of the Squad in Congress and their supporters, claim that their complaints are regarding policy, but the narrative portrayed about AIPAC is a rebranding of a staple antisemitic conspiracy theory.
The current anti-AIPAC narrative mirrors the ideas in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John Mearsheimer, whose premise is that AIPAC and other Israel lobbying groups drive U.S. foreign policy and lead the government to prioritize Israel over American interests.
Mearsheimer’s book is riddled with classical antisemitic tropes, such as Jews having too much influence in government and society, Jewish money, and underground collaboration between US officials and “elite” Jews. The ideas of control, money, and conspiracy are staples of anti-Jewish propaganda. So, naturally, they have made their way to the forefront of the anti-Israel campaign in recent years.
Mearsheimer and his book have received grave backlash and thwarted accusations of their very obvious antisemitism, so how has this narrative resurfaced with such popularity? In addition to the conspiracy theories that riddle the anti-AIPAC narrative, AIPAC has also been designated the modern Jewish scapegoat for U.S. policy failures.
4 View gallery
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with AIPAC members in Israel
(Photo: Kobi Gideon, GPO)
Historically, any society with flaws it cannot get rid of turns to the Jews when looking for a scapegoat for their inability to tackle their issues. The U.S. federal budget and foreign policy are immensely complicated. But in simple terms, their shortcomings are because of the Jews.
The antisemitism in the AIPAC witch-hunt becomes even more clear when looking at the data of what lobbying groups spend the most money and which have the most influence. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbies on behalf of private businesses' interests and as the largest lobbying group in the U.S., spends approximately $70 million on this mission every year.
That’s 20 times AIPAC’s annual spending. AIPAC does not spend nearly enough money to have control over the U.S. government that antisemites project onto them. At $3.5 million each year, AIPAC is not even in the top 50 lobbying spenders in the United States.
The anti-AIPAC camp has made it clear that they have a bigger problem with Jews and Israel than they do with the general idea of lobbies acting according to an agenda. If their true concern was with lobbies’ influence, they might instead go after the seven medical groups in the top 20 spenders and the influence they have on healthcare in the U.S.—a top issue in U.S. policy debate.
The accusation that the Israel lobby has too much influence and conspires against domestic interests is disproven by the most basic data on spending, leaving deeply ingrained antisemitic ideology to be the explanation for the AIPAC obsession.
The AIPAC obsession is not just about an objection to the U.S.-Israel relationship. For centuries, blaming Jews for societal complaints has been the go-to, even when there is a clear and logical explanation for the issue. Those who are hellbent on taking down the Israel lobby accuse AIPAC of sabotaging progressive Democrats’ campaigns.
But the reality is simple: AIPAC is not “secretly pouring millions” into the suppression of Democratic candidates. AIPAC, like all lobbies, puts their money where it will benefit their cause. And when candidates are staunchly anti-Israel, vote against Iron Dome funding, and refuse to condemn Hamas, surely the pro-Israel PAC will endorse their opponent.
AIPAC is one of over 3,500 lobbying groups in the United States. Its fraction of the $4.2 billion industry is an even smaller sliver than the U.S. Jewish population. And yet, the obsession with blaming the Israel lobby for all of America’s political shortcomings persists. In simplest terms, the focus on AIPAC is wildly disproportionate to their size or spending. This verifies that the fight against AIPAC is a campaign of antisemitism rather than one of political progress.
While antisemites focus a disproportionate amount of time and energy on taking down AIPAC, the problems AIPAC is accused of causing persist. Other lobbying efforts in categories such as healthcare, insurance, and real estate significantly influence issues that most anti-AIPAC voters value. The perception that the Israel lobby has way more money than they do is a very clear reflection of the belief that Jews—especially in America—have too much money.
Combatting AIPAC’s made-up influence and amount of money does not do anything to tackle the dozens of issues important to U.S. voters. While the movement to take down AIPAC wages on, all of the other issues these voters supposedly care about are going unresolved as those PACs continue to lobby on behalf of their agendas.
It’s become abundantly clear in the reasoning and narrative of the AIPAC witch-hunt that it is not about policy, but rather the latest way to make classical antisemitism palatable and acceptable in our current society. Should they succeed in taking down AIPAC, not only would their issues with U.S. policy persist, but the antisemitism would mutate yet again and find the next socially acceptable manifestation.
- Galia Wechsler is a Social Media Manager at the Israeli advocacy group DiploAct.