The money behind the pro-'Israel' lobby in US elections, in charts
AIPAC and other pro-Israeli PACs fund candidates in both parties. Charts show the money, the votes, the shift in US opinion and who is beating it. (Illustrated by Al Mayadeen English)
AIPAC announced Wednesday, 13 days before the US midterms, that it will stop endorsing candidates, stop making direct PAC contributions, and stop earmarking donations. The same week, its super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), was sending up to $9 million to a group backing Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race, after the date by which the spending would have had to be disclosed before Election Day.
The two moves fit one pattern. AIPAC is removing its name from the visible parts of campaigns while the money keeps flowing, and that money comes from a network of pro-Israeli committees and reaches candidates in both parties.
American public opinion of "Israel" continues to fall, and a growing number of candidates now run explicitly against AIPAC and win. This article follows the data in that order. It first sets out who is in the lobby and what separates it from other lobbies, then what it funds in Congress, how public opinion has changed, and how that has played out in this year’s primaries and in the November races.
What AIPAC changed, what it kept
AIPAC told members it will stop endorsing candidates, stop contributing from its own PAC and stop routing earmarked donations through it, and will encourage supporters to give to candidates directly. UDP, the super PAC that can spend unlimited sums on ads but cannot coordinate with campaigns, keeps operating.
Spokesperson Deryn Sousa told NPR that member giving, which has passed $90 million this cycle, will “continue and increase,” and told JNS that “our mission and strategy remain the same.”
The change alters how AIPAC’s fundraising appears in filings more than how much money flows. Earmarked donations are recorded as passing through AIPAC’s PAC, so direct giving can make the group’s fundraising harder to trace, although each donation is still disclosed.
AIPAC is the largest of dozens of pro-Israeli committees
Track AIPAC’s database ties dozens of committees to the 442 candidates on the November House and Senate ballots, and links AIPAC’s network to 332 of them.
J Street’s committees appear on 114 candidates, all Democrats; the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) on 114, all Republicans; and Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) on 110, all Democrats, while NORPAC funds 67, split almost evenly between the parties.
The pro-"Israel" lobby is a network, not a single PAC. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
The other groups have grown too. JNS reported from FEC filings that the RJC and its super PAC spent $19.7 million in 2024, more than four times their 2022 total, and that J Street’s spending rose from $8.6 million to $14.6 million.
DMFI was the only major group whose spending fell, from $7.7 million to $4.8 million, although this cycle it announced $7 million for two endangered House Democrats with money from Michael Bloomberg, Punchbowl News reported.
The groups do not always agree, and J Street, which supports a "two-state solution," is spending $3 million against five AIPAC-backed Republicans.
Other pro-"Israel" PACs have also raised their spending. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
Money also moves through partner PACs with unrelated names. More than one in four dollars of independent spending by UDP and DMFI through May, almost $8 million of $30.66 million, went to nine partner PACs, the American Prospect found.
Two Chicago groups funded by UDP ran ads that never mentioned “Israel,” according to the same report.
What sets the Israeli lobby apart from other lobbies
Industry lobbying is routine in Washington. The National Association of Realtors spent $86.4 million on federal lobbying in 2024, and a crypto-aligned network spent more than $133 million on the 2024 elections, OpenSecrets reported.
AIPAC’s weight lies in elections. On the FEC’s 2023-24 ranking of membership PACs by contributions, AIPAC PAC came first at $53.7 million, much of it earmarked by individual donors, ahead of J Street’s PAC at $14.4 million, the Realtors at $8.7 million and the RJC’s PAC at $3.2 million.
A defined roster of federal pro-Israeli PACs reported about $464 million in gross disbursements from 2019 through partial 2026 filings, according to a calculation from FEC committee summaries that includes operating costs and transfers between committees.
The money also goes to both parties. Track AIPAC ties $152.3 million in lobby money to Democrats on the November ballot and $70.4 million to Republicans, career totals that include independent spending against opponents.
AIPAC stresses that support for "Israel" can outweigh disagreement on other issues, which is why it funds candidates who differ sharply on everything else.
Pro-"Israel" lobby money flows to both parties. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
What the lobby funds in Congress
AIPAC’s published positions are specific.
According to its policy memos, it calls for $3.3 billion in annual security assistance and $500 million for missile defense without added conditions, opposes efforts to condition or block arms sales, backs sanctions on people who assist International Criminal Court proceedings against Israelis, supports restrictions on funding for UNRWA, opposes recognition of a Palestinian state outside direct negotiations and opposes the boycott movement. On Iran, it demands a permanent, verifiable end to enrichment and stronger sanctions.
Votes in Congress line up with that agenda across party lines. The House passed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act 366-58 in April 2024, with 193 Republicans and 173 Democrats in favor, and passed sanctions on the ICC 243-140 in January 2025, with 198 Republicans and 45 Democrats in favor, according to the House Clerk’s roll calls.
How House Republicans and Democrats voted on aid to Israel (2024) and sanctions on the ICC (2025). (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
The closest evidence of a financial consequence came in July, when AIPAC removed fundraising links for at least 15 House Democrats who voted to cut aid to "Israel," JNSreported, after an amendment to eliminate the aid failed 314-104.
Opinion of 'Israel' drops, as AIPAC spending rises
American public opinion of "Israel" has fallen sharply since 2022, the period in which AIPAC’s spending more than doubled.
Pew found in March that only 37 percent of Americans view "Israel" favorably and 60 percent unfavorably, compared with 55 percent favorable in 2022.
Democrats have moved furthest, with 80 percent now unfavorable, up from 53 percent in 2022. Republicans remain more favorable at 58 percent, but among Republicans aged 18 to 49, 57 percent view "Israel" unfavorably, up from 50 percent in 2025.
A separate Pew survey in May found that 32 percent of Americans view the Israeli government favorably, down from 47 percent in 2022, and AP-NORC found in June that 40 percent say the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 29 percent in 2021, while 18 percent say it is not supportive enough.
Spending by AIPAC’s PAC and super PAC rose from $44 million in 2022 to $95.1 million in 2024, JNS reported from FEC filings, and has passed $104 million this cycle, Sludge found.
As Americans turn against the Israeli government, AIPAC spends more. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
While Americans are growing less and less favorable toward "Israel," it appears that most Americans are still unaware of the Israeli lobby. AP-NORC found in June that 15 percent of Americans view the group favorably, 25 percent unfavorably, and 59 percent say they do not know enough to say.
Most Americans have therefore not formed a view of the group, and this year’s primaries were the first large test of what happens when it becomes an issue in a race.
Most Americans do not know enough about AIPAC. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
'Israel' fuels the US' most expensive primaries
In Kentucky’s 4th District, Rep. Thomas Massie lost the Republican primary on May 19 to Ed Gallrein, 54.9 percent to 45.1 percent, after Trump endorsed Gallrein. It was the most expensive House primary on record, with more than $34 million spent, and three PACs linked to pro-Israeli donors accounted for more than $15.5 million of it. Massie, who has sponsored a bill to require AIPAC to register as a foreign agent, still received 45.1 percent of the vote despite that opposition.
In Michigan, the money produced the opposite result. UDP spent about $30.6 million in the Democratic Senate primary, the most AIPAC has put into any race, and AIPAC and other PACs spent more than $54 million in total to help Haley Stevens. Abdul El-Sayed, who refused super PAC support, won 48.4 percent to 47.6 percent.
Two record primaries, two outcomes. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
Beyond these two races, the record is mixed. AIPAC says its network helped 290 candidates win this cycle, but that tally does not separate contested races. Inside Political Money counted seven AIPAC wins and ten losses across 23 Democratic primaries through early August, plus five losses by AIPAC-adjacent groups, and Primary Democrats counted nine wins and eight losses in 18 races with at least $100,000 in ads. One analyst told NPR the group is “pretty average when it comes to win rates.”
UDP spent $14.6 million against Jamaal Bowman and $8.6 million against Cori Bush in 2024, and both lost, and it spent more than $3 million to defeat Bush again this year.
UDP spending in selected races and whether AIPAC's side won ($ millions). (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
Lobby money sits on one side
In the toss-up and lean races, Track AIPAC ties $26.6 million to Republicans and $14.0 million to Democrats. Only four of the 51 competitive races in the database have at least $100,000 on both sides, in Virginia’s 2nd, Wisconsin’s 3rd, Iowa’s 1st and the Ohio Senate race, where Sen. Sherrod Brown has $1.5 million and Jon Husted $368,000.
Where pro-"Israel" money sits in the tightest races. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
Candidates who reject AIPAC are winning primaries
Opposition to the lobby has grown from a few members of Congress into an organized bloc. Three House Democrats, Morgan McGarvey, Deborah Ross and Valerie Foushee, said in September 2025 that they would stop accepting AIPAC money.
By November, Track AIPAC had endorsed about three dozen candidates, according to Jewish Insider, and by May Reuters counted 102 Democratic candidates endorsed by Track AIPAC and Justice Democrats, 73 of them challenging sitting Democrats who had received pro-Israeli group support.
From three House Democrats to more than 100 candidates distancing themselves from AIPAC. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
Several of these candidates won. In New York, Brad Lander beat Rep. Dan Goldman and Darializa Avila Chevalier beat Rep. Adriano Espaillat, both AIPAC-endorsed, in a primary sweep that ousted two incumbents.
Melat Kiros beat Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado, Peggy Flanagan won Minnesota’s Democratic Senate primary over Rep. Angie Craig, who had support from AIPAC’s donor network, and El-Sayed won in Michigan. Nida Allam lost to Foushee in North Carolina by less than 1 percent.
American Priorities, a super PAC registered in February with a pledge to spend more than $10 million, backed Lander, Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, who all won. Track AIPAC lists 17 candidates on the November ballot as rejecting AIPAC money, among them Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ro Khanna.
Anti-AIPAC candidates have won primaries. (Illustrated by Hala Farhat for Al Mayadeen English)
What happens to AIPAC now?
Critics on the left say the change leaves AIPAC’s spending intact. The Democratic Socialists of America said AIPAC would back the same candidates under a different name; Jewish Voice for Peace said the group had judged itself too toxic, and former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth said candidates no longer want its backing, JTA reported.
J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami said AIPAC “can’t save its brand by folding its PAC.” Waleed Shahid, a former Justice Democrats spokesperson, noted that AIPAC’s PAC gave about $3 million directly this cycle against roughly $90 million from its members, so pledges to reject AIPAC money mean little.
AIPAC says its approach is unchanged. Jonathan Greenberg, a former AIPAC Midwest political director now at Defending Education, called the shift a sign of institutional health and said the pro-Israeli community will remain deeply involved in campaigns.