The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, just spent over $100 million influencing the 2024 elections, a record-breaking sum. AIPAC has exploited a system that lets it funnel unlimited money into American elections while dodging the accountability required of foreign agents. The result? A Congress that consistently prioritizes Israeli interests over American ones, regardless of voters’ concerns.
This represents the weaponization of our broken campaign finance system, which ensures that politicians who question unconditional support for Israel face financial ruin and accusations of antisemitism, while those who toe the line are rewarded with millions in campaign cash. A foreign government is buying American policy through legal loopholes and political intimidation, and any politician that dares disagree faces the threat of losing reelection.
AIPAC operates as Israel’s unofficial arm without having to register in accordance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. FARA requires anyone acting “at the order, request or under the direction or control” of a foreign government to register and disclose their activities. AIPAC dodges this by saying it’s a domestic group funded by American donors — but the evidence tells a different story.
AIPAC was founded by Isaiah Kenen, an Israeli government lobbyist, after its predecessor, the American Zionist Council, was ordered to register under FARA in 1962 for funneling millions from Israel’s Jewish Agency. When John F. Kennedy’s Justice Department demanded transparency, Kenen simply relaunched the organization as AIPAC in 1963, using the same personnel and mission but with domestic funding sources.
The organization has maintained a Jerusalem office since 1982, hosts Israeli officials at policy summits and consistently pushes for U.S. policy to align with Israeli government priorities. In 2024, it pushed $14.1 billion in emergency aid for Israel, matching Benjamin Netanyahu’s exact requests, and lobbied for congressional sanctions against the International Criminal Court (the same ICC that indicted Netanyahu for war crimes) after Israel’s Foreign Minister specifically requested them.
If this doesn’t constitute acting “for or in the interests of” a foreign government, FARA has no meaning. Current FARA requirements include disclosing relationships with foreign principals, reporting political activities and labeling materials distributed on behalf of foreign interests. If AIPAC truly represents American citizens supporting Israel, why resist disclosure? The refusal to register raises questions about whose interests the organization really serves.
Leaked documents from Israel’s Ministry of Justice reveal that Israeli officials actively sought legal advice on avoiding FARA requirements between 2018-22, proposing to create American nonprofits that would be “informally managed by the Israeli government.” AIPAC operates three entities: AIPAC itself, AIPAC PAC and the United Democracy Project super PAC. This structure lets pro-Israel donors route money through multiple channels while obscuring the original sources.
AIPAC identifies wealthy donors and “suggests” they contribute to specific candidates at specific times. According to journalist Connie Bruck, by the 1980s, there were “dozens” of pro-Israel PACs with no formal AIPAC connection, but whose leaders were often AIPAC members, creating the appearance of grassroots support while maintaining central coordination.
Former Representative Brian Baird described the system bluntly: “AIPAC-connected money” amounted to about $200,000 in each of his campaigns — “and that’s $200,000 going your way, versus the other way: a $400,000 swing.” AIPAC doesn’t just give money; it provides “tactical input” on messaging, telling lawmakers, “No, we don’t say it that way, we say it this way.”
The United Democracy Project spent $37.8 million in the 2024 elections, primarily targeting Democratic primaries to defeat progressive candidates. The group spent $8.6 million to help Rep. Wesley Bell defeat former Rep. Cori Bush and $14.5 million against former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, successfully ousting both critics of Israeli policy. These spending levels “eclipsed what any interest group has ever spent on a single House race,” according to The New York Times.
AIPAC’s influence extends far beyond campaign contributions. It maintains “key contacts” in every congressional district — AIPAC members who can mobilize “five to 15” contacts for any member of Congress within 24 hours. These aren’t casual relationships; they’re influence networks designed to apply pressure.
Through the American Israel Education Foundation, AIPAC funds congressional trips to Israel, the No. 1 destination for privately sponsored foreign travel by House members. These aren’t educational tours; they’re influence operations where lawmakers meet Israeli officials and adopt their narrative on issues.
Despite growing American opposition to Israeli actions in Gaza — with 77% of Democratic voters disapproving of Israel’s military actions — Congress continues providing unconditional military aid and diplomatic protection. College-age Americans in particular sympathize with the Palestinian people, and at universities we’ve seen encampments and protests in support of Palestine. When such a bipartisan issue isn’t addressed by policy, it makes it difficult for young people to trust their government and its ability to represent its constituents’ interests.
The playbook is consistent: flood primaries with millions in attack ads while weaponizing antisemitism accusations against anyone who dares criticize Israeli policy. When AIPAC spent $14.6 million to defeat Bowman, their ads featured Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s son asking voters to “confront Jamaal Bowman’s lies and conspiracy theories,” essentially accusing him of antisemitism for criticizing Israeli government actions.
Bush faced similar treatment, with AIPAC-linked groups distributing flyers that allegedly “darkened” her skin color while attacking her as insufficiently supportive of Israel. When Bush called this out as racist, AIPAC allies dismissed her concerns and doubled down on characterizing her Israel criticism as dangerous extremism. Rep. Summer Lee, who survived an AIPAC challenge, said of the pattern: “It’s incredibly problematic to have a group that seems to hyper-focus on Black and brown districts.”
This isn’t a legitimate concern about fighting antisemitism; it’s exploitation of Jewish trauma to silence political opposition. As academic scholars have documented, accusations of antisemitism systematically increase after Israeli military actions, designed to “‘immunize’ Israel against criticism” by conflating legitimate policy disagreement with bigotry. Critics ranging from Jimmy Carter to Desmond Tutu have faced antisemitism accusations for supporting Palestinian rights, demonstrating how the charge has been “employed so carelessly as to trivialize” actual antisemitism.
The solution: AIPAC should register under FARA like every other organization that advances foreign government interests, and Congress must end unconditional support for a state actively committing genocide. Registration wouldn’t prohibit AIPAC’s activities — it would simply require AIPAC to be transparent about meetings with Israeli officials, funding sources and coordination with foreign governments. Only Israel’s lobby has somehow convinced the Justice Department that advancing a foreign government’s policy agenda doesn’t constitute foreign representation.
AIPAC’s influence comes at enormous cost to American interests and Palestinian lives. The U.S. has provided over $160 billion to Israel since 1949, with current annual military aid exceeding $3 billion — money that directly funds the weapons being used to kill Palestinian civilians. Meanwhile, American students graduate with crushing debt, infrastructure crumbles and healthcare remains unaffordable. American support for the conflict in Palestine has plunged, but AIPAC’s methods ensure politicians will continue to throw money Israel’s way, even when America’s economy and national debt can’t handle it.
AIPAC represents everything wrong with American politics: unlimited money, foreign influence and the systematic suppression of dissenting voices. AIPAC has transformed our government into a subsidiary of Israeli policy-making, where elected officials fear AIPAC’s checkbook more than their own constituents. Until AIPAC faces the same transparency requirements as every other foreign influence operation, American foreign policy will continue serving foreign interests instead of American voters.
Phil Warren is a second-year mechanical engineering and physics combined major. He can be reached at [email protected].
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