Progressive campaign launched to counter Aipac’s influence in US politics

A coalition of progressive organizations has announced a fundraising, lobbying and organizing effort to counter the influx of spending by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) into primary campaigns against progressive Democrats.

Related: Pro-Israel group spent millions in tight race for southern California House seat – and lost

The effort, called Reject Aipac, is in part a response to the ongoing congressional support for Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which has claimed more than 30,000 Palestinian lives since 7 October, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel.

Among the groups involved in the campaign are the progressive group Justice Democrats, the advocacy arm of Jewish Voice for Peace and the Sunrise Movement climate organization.

“We have watched as Aipac has done everything it can to silence growing dissent in Congress against Netanyahu’s assault on Gaza,” said the coalition in a statement, “even as Democratic voters overwhelmingly support a ceasefire and oppose sending more blank checks to the Israeli military.”

Founded in the 1950s, Aipac stayed out of the fray during election campaigns for most of its existence, focusing its efforts instead on shoring up bipartisan support for Israel in Congress – with a focus on military spending. That has changed in recent years. The organization formed a political action committee of its own in 2021 – and has ramped up campaign funding through its Super Pac, the United Democracy Project (UDP), taking particular aim against progressive Democratic candidates.

During the 2022 election cycle, the UDP spent lavishly in support of candidates running against progressive Democrats – in particular, progressives who spoke out about Palestinian rights and aligned themselves with the “Squad”, a group of progressive House representatives.

The group spent $2.3m on the Democratic Pennsylvania primary contest between Congresswoman Summer Lee and her opponent Steve Irwin, who served as a Republican congressional staffer before becoming a Democrat. Lee won, but the race was one of the closest in the nation and Aipac is reportedly in communication with her opponent in the 2024 election, Bhavini Patel, whose campaign has also been linked to Hindu nationalist groups.

During the same cycle, Aipac poured millions into a primary campaign against the then congressman Andy Levin – a progressive former synagogue president and self-described Zionist in Michigan who is a vocal defender of Palestinian rights. Levin lost to Haley Stevens, who has consistently pushed for US military support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Now, the organization is expected to drop $100m during the 2024 election cycle in an effort to oust candidates it views as insufficiently pro-Israel – while J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group that in 2022 spent in defense of some candidates Aipac attacked, will reportedly be backing away from that role in 2024.

A 2023 Guardian analysis found that the members of Congress who were the most supportive of Israel’s campaign in Gaza during the first six weeks of the war were also politicians who had benefited from donations from pro-Israel groups like Aipac.

Organizers with Reject Aipac say the coalition, which plans to launch a “seven-figure electoral defense campaign”, was formed to disrupt the foreign policy influence that the pro-Israel group exerts in Congress.

Members of the group say it is also an attempt to highlight the alliance that Aipac has had with the far right in recent years.

Among the top funders of Aipac-affiliated lobbying and fundraising groups are Republican mega donors and Donald Trump supporters. And the group has endorsed dozens of the same Republicans who attempted to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

It’s a connection progressive Democrats have increasingly drawn. “Conservative dark money,” wrote Wisconsin congressman Mark Pocan, blasting Aipac on the social media site X (formerly Twitter). “Toxic money.”

“No Democratic candidate should take Aipac money or an Aipac endorsement,” said Beth Miller, the political director of JVP Action and a member of the Reject Aipac coalition.

“This is a far-right group – they’re endorsing insurrectionists, they’re backing extremist, far-right candidates. It should be an embarrassment for any Democratic member of Congress to be taking money or an endorsement from Aipac.”