USPolitics
The Destructive Grip of the Israel Lobby on American Politics
The Destructive Grip of the Israel Lobby on American Politics
Our leaders are sacrificing American interests for a foreign nation.
By: Alexander White đť•Ź | 05/29/2024
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In 1991, Pat Buchanan called Congress “a Parliament of Whores incapable of standing up for U.S. national interests, if AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] is on the other end of the line.”
Three decades later, Israel’s influence over American politics is more obvious –– and pernicious –– than ever.
Since Israel began its brutal campaign in Gaza, America has given $26.3 billion dollars in aid — in addition to the $300 billion Israel has received as America’s top foreign aid recipient. Because of Israel’s actions, we have been held responsible for its war crimes, isolated internationally, and led to the brink of war with Iran.
And we got nothing in return.
In fact, we got worse than nothing. Israel continues to openly defy America by invading Rafah against President Biden’s warnings.
Why should we support Israel without question? Why do our leaders insist on calling Israel “our greatest ally?” Why must we perpetually sacrifice our own interests for a tiny state across the world?
The answer is the Israel Lobby. As defined by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, the Israel Lobby is “the loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction.”
The Lobby takes advantage of America’s open society by exerting extreme pressure on lawmakers to support Israel. At the core of this effort is the bipartisan lobbying group AIPAC. The organization boasts 3 million members, a $100 million war chest, and caucuses in every congressional district. AIPAC has a menacing reputation in Washington, and for good reason. In the most recent elections, 95% of candidates that AIPAC opposed were defeated.
The group supported every single member of both parties’ House leadership teams, including Speaker Mike Johnson, whose biggest contributor (by a massive margin) for years has been AIPAC. AIPAC is more powerful than nearly all other lobbying groups. Studies by Fortune magazine and National Journal both ranked AIPAC as the second most powerful lobby in Washington, ahead of the AFL-CIO and the National Rifle Association. Israel’s lobby trailed only the AARP.
At AIPAC’s annual policy conference held in March, the PAC boasted of its power as “dollar for dollar, the largest contributor to candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.”
That power is demonstrated in Congress’ uniform Israel policy. Former Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) summarized the effect AIPAC influence has on the laws: “You can’t have an Israeli policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here.”
According to former AIPAC staffer Douglas Bloomfield, “It is common for members of Congress and their staffs to turn to AIPAC first when they need information, before calling the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, committee staff or administration experts.” He also said AIPAC is “often called upon to draft speeches, work on legislation, advise on tactics, perform research, collect co-sponsors and marshal votes.”
The top four congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), addressed AIPAC’s Congressional Summit in March.
It is unsurprising, then, that Congress would prioritize Israel over America in recent legislation. Rather than working to limit immigration or reduce inflation, interest groups have successfully lobbied politicians into limiting Americans’ ability to criticize Israel.
Earlier this month, the House passed a bill that requires the Department of Education to adopt a definition of antisemitism that defines “claims of Jews killing Jesus” and “accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel than their own countries” as discrimination.
In April, pro-Israel activist groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America, lobbied Congress to ban TikTok. The man who drafted the law, Jacob Helberg, works for Palantir, an Israeli defense contractor. He said anti-Israel content was a “galvanizing force” for lawmakers to ban the app.
In New York City, over 100 pro-Israel millionaire and billionaires used a WhatsApp group chat to pledge campaign donations to New York City mayor Eric Adams in exchange for removing protestors at Columbia University.
“AIPAC,” Mearsheimer and Walt add, “is a de facto agent for a foreign government [that] has a stranglehold on the U.S. Congress.”
The Israel Lobby isn’t just relegated to congressmen and mayors. It also influences presidential elections. Pro-Israel megadonors give hundreds of millions of dollars to candidates each presidential cycle.
Take Sheldon Adelson, who at one point was the third-wealthiest man in America. Adelson was effectively a single-issue donor in favor of Israel, and between 2010 to 2020, he contributed over $500 million to the Republican party. He was the Republican’s top giver in 2016, 2018, and 2020. Adelson explicitly conditioned his contributions to President Trump on support for Israel. In 2017, Adelson reportedly became “furious” with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s for his dovish foreign policy. Specifically, Adelson was displeased that Tillerson hesitated to move the American embassy to Jerusalem.
Tillerson was fired just months later, for a lack of “chemistry” on Middle Eastern policy. He was replaced by Mike Pompeo, who immediately facilitated the embassy move and became one of the most pro-Israel Secretaries of State in U.S. history.
When Adelson died in 2021, his body was flown on a private jet to Israel, where his coffin was greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the airport.
His widow, Miriam Adelson continues to be a political force, and many believe she will be President Trump’s top patron in 2024. Experts say she will try to steer him away from America’s two-state solution policy, which she calls a “useless mold of the so-called peace process.”
Three weeks before announcing his campaign for president, Ron DeSantis sought the blessing of Miriam Adelson and other megadonors in Israel.
American policy is controlled by people who do not care about American interests. Nobody elected the Adelsons. His qualification for influencing policy is owning casinos — not expertise or love for country.
In fact, Adelson makes his non-American priorities no secret. Speaking about his foreign policy interests, Sheldon Adelson stated, “All we care about is being good Zionists, being good citizens of Israel.” These people shape our security policy.
But it isn’t just the Adelsons. Of the top 25 donors in the 2020 presidential election, 15 were Jewish. The Washington Post estimated at one point that pro-Israel Jewish supporters supply 60% of Democratic presidential candidates’ campaign funds.
American patriots must not stand for this. As Thomas Paine said, a powerful nation should not be ruled by a tiny country across an ocean — it’s common sense. President Washington famously warned against “entangling alliances.”
Now we are tangled up with Israel. At every time for choosing, we have put Israeli interests ahead of our own.
When Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House, Republicans were prepared to shut down the government to leverage Ukraine aid into border security. But as soon as Israel requested aid, Republicans abandoned the border fight to send $95 billion to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.
That’s enough to complete four border walls.
For decades, the Israel Lobby’s stranglehold on our politics has ensured the American government will never prioritize its own interests. But it’s time to change that. We must reclaim our sovereignty from Israel and put America First.
Three decades later, Israel’s influence over American politics is more obvious –– and pernicious –– than ever.
Since Israel began its brutal campaign in Gaza, America has given $26.3 billion dollars in aid — in addition to the $300 billion Israel has received as America’s top foreign aid recipient. Because of Israel’s actions, we have been held responsible for its war crimes, isolated internationally, and led to the brink of war with Iran.
And we got nothing in return.
In fact, we got worse than nothing. Israel continues to openly defy America by invading Rafah against President Biden’s warnings.
Why should we support Israel without question? Why do our leaders insist on calling Israel “our greatest ally?” Why must we perpetually sacrifice our own interests for a tiny state across the world?
The answer is the Israel Lobby. As defined by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, the Israel Lobby is “the loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction.”
The Lobby takes advantage of America’s open society by exerting extreme pressure on lawmakers to support Israel. At the core of this effort is the bipartisan lobbying group AIPAC. The organization boasts 3 million members, a $100 million war chest, and caucuses in every congressional district. AIPAC has a menacing reputation in Washington, and for good reason. In the most recent elections, 95% of candidates that AIPAC opposed were defeated.
The group supported every single member of both parties’ House leadership teams, including Speaker Mike Johnson, whose biggest contributor (by a massive margin) for years has been AIPAC. AIPAC is more powerful than nearly all other lobbying groups. Studies by Fortune magazine and National Journal both ranked AIPAC as the second most powerful lobby in Washington, ahead of the AFL-CIO and the National Rifle Association. Israel’s lobby trailed only the AARP.
At AIPAC’s annual policy conference held in March, the PAC boasted of its power as “dollar for dollar, the largest contributor to candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.”
That power is demonstrated in Congress’ uniform Israel policy. Former Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) summarized the effect AIPAC influence has on the laws: “You can’t have an Israeli policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here.”
According to former AIPAC staffer Douglas Bloomfield, “It is common for members of Congress and their staffs to turn to AIPAC first when they need information, before calling the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, committee staff or administration experts.” He also said AIPAC is “often called upon to draft speeches, work on legislation, advise on tactics, perform research, collect co-sponsors and marshal votes.”
The top four congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), addressed AIPAC’s Congressional Summit in March.
It is unsurprising, then, that Congress would prioritize Israel over America in recent legislation. Rather than working to limit immigration or reduce inflation, interest groups have successfully lobbied politicians into limiting Americans’ ability to criticize Israel.
Earlier this month, the House passed a bill that requires the Department of Education to adopt a definition of antisemitism that defines “claims of Jews killing Jesus” and “accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel than their own countries” as discrimination.
In April, pro-Israel activist groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America, lobbied Congress to ban TikTok. The man who drafted the law, Jacob Helberg, works for Palantir, an Israeli defense contractor. He said anti-Israel content was a “galvanizing force” for lawmakers to ban the app.
In New York City, over 100 pro-Israel millionaire and billionaires used a WhatsApp group chat to pledge campaign donations to New York City mayor Eric Adams in exchange for removing protestors at Columbia University.
“AIPAC,” Mearsheimer and Walt add, “is a de facto agent for a foreign government [that] has a stranglehold on the U.S. Congress.”
The Israel Lobby isn’t just relegated to congressmen and mayors. It also influences presidential elections. Pro-Israel megadonors give hundreds of millions of dollars to candidates each presidential cycle.
Take Sheldon Adelson, who at one point was the third-wealthiest man in America. Adelson was effectively a single-issue donor in favor of Israel, and between 2010 to 2020, he contributed over $500 million to the Republican party. He was the Republican’s top giver in 2016, 2018, and 2020. Adelson explicitly conditioned his contributions to President Trump on support for Israel. In 2017, Adelson reportedly became “furious” with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s for his dovish foreign policy. Specifically, Adelson was displeased that Tillerson hesitated to move the American embassy to Jerusalem.
Tillerson was fired just months later, for a lack of “chemistry” on Middle Eastern policy. He was replaced by Mike Pompeo, who immediately facilitated the embassy move and became one of the most pro-Israel Secretaries of State in U.S. history.
When Adelson died in 2021, his body was flown on a private jet to Israel, where his coffin was greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the airport.
His widow, Miriam Adelson continues to be a political force, and many believe she will be President Trump’s top patron in 2024. Experts say she will try to steer him away from America’s two-state solution policy, which she calls a “useless mold of the so-called peace process.”
Three weeks before announcing his campaign for president, Ron DeSantis sought the blessing of Miriam Adelson and other megadonors in Israel.
American policy is controlled by people who do not care about American interests. Nobody elected the Adelsons. His qualification for influencing policy is owning casinos — not expertise or love for country.
In fact, Adelson makes his non-American priorities no secret. Speaking about his foreign policy interests, Sheldon Adelson stated, “All we care about is being good Zionists, being good citizens of Israel.” These people shape our security policy.
But it isn’t just the Adelsons. Of the top 25 donors in the 2020 presidential election, 15 were Jewish. The Washington Post estimated at one point that pro-Israel Jewish supporters supply 60% of Democratic presidential candidates’ campaign funds.
American patriots must not stand for this. As Thomas Paine said, a powerful nation should not be ruled by a tiny country across an ocean — it’s common sense. President Washington famously warned against “entangling alliances.”
Now we are tangled up with Israel. At every time for choosing, we have put Israeli interests ahead of our own.
When Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House, Republicans were prepared to shut down the government to leverage Ukraine aid into border security. But as soon as Israel requested aid, Republicans abandoned the border fight to send $95 billion to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.
That’s enough to complete four border walls.
For decades, the Israel Lobby’s stranglehold on our politics has ensured the American government will never prioritize its own interests. But it’s time to change that. We must reclaim our sovereignty from Israel and put America First.