US Republican leader Mike Rogers and his allies have reportedly asked the pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) not to run a campaign on his behalf ahead of the November general election.
Rogers, who is a Republican Senate candidate from Michigan – home to one of the country’s largest Arab American populations – fears that open AIPAC support might backfire.
Recommended Stories
list of ۳ itemsend of list
According to a US media outlet, the request to the pro-Israel lobby came after Rogers met the AIPAC chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week.
This comes as the powerful pro-Israel lobby group has been facing mounting pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which has been largely critical of Israel and its ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.
But now even Republican party candidates are looking to distance themselves from the group as a growing number of Americans, both on the left and right, have started to challenge US support for Israel.
So, what is AIPAC and why is an increasing number of US politicians refusing to receive its support?
Here’s what we know:
What is AIPAC?
AIPAC is officially a non-partisan group that advocates unconditional US support for Israel and pushes back against any criticism of Israeli governments and their human rights record.
It was established in ۱۹۵۴ under its original name, the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs.
Its founding objective was to persuade Congress to fund Israel’s economy and the absorption of Jewish refugees and was framed as an American national interest rather than a special-interest favour.
After the ۱۹۶۷ Six-Day War and the ۱۹۷۳ October (Yom Kippur) War, its focus widened to military aid, advocating before US Congress members for military aid and joint defence cooperation for Israel.
AIPAC itself gave nothing to electoral candidates until the early ۱۹۸۰s, when it began using a network of separately incorporated pro-Israel political action committees (PACs), private groups that pool contributions from people and donate them to political campaigns.
That funding has been bipartisan, with AIPAC wielding significant influence in both parties; that was until a split emerged among Democrats, with progressives such as Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar entering Congress around ۲۰۱۸ and pushing to condition military aid on human rights compliance.
In December ۲۰۲۱, it changed strategy, directly spending through AIPAC PAC and AIPAC affiliate Super PAC United Democracy Project (UDP).
Super PACs are funded by individuals, unions, and corporations and can donate unlimited amounts to independent organisations linked to a candidate.
AIPAC said the shift was forced by a changed Washington, with its then-president, Betsy Berns Korn, citing hyperpartisanship, high congressional turnover, and the exponential growth in campaign costs.
What has AIPAC’s strategy been ahead of November’s elections?
AIPAC has focused on Democratic primaries in liberal-leaning congressional districts, as it has since the ۲۰۲۲ primaries, when progressives are more likely to succeed.
Track AIPAC, an organisation that records the group’s funding of US politicians, has revealed that AIPAC spent more than $۶ million on just one Democratic Party candidate, Melissa Hernandez, who ran and lost against progressive Democrat California state Sen. Aisha Wahab in a special election in California’s ۱۴th district.
UDP alone raised about $۱۰۴m during the ۲۰۲۶ cycle, according to factcheck.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit website, $۸۷.۱ million more than it collected during the ۲۰۲۴ cycle.
In Michigan’s Senate Democratic primary alone, it spent more than $۳۰m backing four-term Congress member Haley Stevens against Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official.
It’s the most AIPAC has ever spent on one contest.
Despite this, El-Sayed, who focused on health for all and the Palestinian issue, won the primary election and will face Rogers in the November election.
Shell PACs
AIPAC has used shell PACs to obscure its spending in Democratic primaries.
In the Michigan Democratic primaries, a newly formed group PAC called A Stronger Michigan donated $۱۷m. The PAC has been mostly bankrolled by a nonprofit called Center Forward, whose stated mission is to foster partisanship.
A Stronger Michigan has also received funds from another PAC that was established this year, Michigan Forward ۲۰۲۶.
In mid-March, during elections in Illinois, AIPAC used three different PACs to advertise to boost congressional candidate Bushra Amiwala and siphon off votes from more viable progressive candidates – namely, Palestinian American activist Kat Abughazaleh, who ended up losing the race narrowly.
What is AIPAC’s standing now?
AIPAC still wields enormous influence in US politics.
Aid packages to Israel continue to pass by wide margins, and it still boasts the largest war chest of any single-issue lobby in Washington.
However, when it comes to recent efforts to sway US election results in favour of candidates who support Israel, AIPAC has faced setbacks.
Part of the backlash has come from broader public disillusionment with Israel-backed policies, including the joint US-Israeli war against Iran and the genocidal assault on Gaza, which AIPAC supports.
Some politicians who previously received support from the group are now disavowing it.
Last October, Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton distanced himself from AIPAC, citing the group’s support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The prominent lawmaker announced he would also return donations from AIPAC.
“In recent years, AIPAC has aligned itself too closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government,” Moulton had said in a statement.
“I’m a friend of Israel, but not of its current government, and AIPAC’s mission today is to back that government. I don’t support that direction. That’s why I’ve decided to return the donations I’ve received, and I will not be accepting their support.”
According to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted in June, ۵۸ percent of Democrats said the US is too supportive of Israel, up from ۴۵ percent in January ۲۰۲۴. Meanwhile, ۶۰ percent of Republicans said the US support is “about right.”
But as Israel’s war in Palestine, Iran and south Lebanon continue, AIPAC has also begun losing support from Republican candidates.
Besides Michigan’s Roger’s recent request from the group, last August, the lobby group accused right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of betraying “American values” over her criticism of Israel.
Greene shot back, saying that AIPAC serves the interests of a foreign government. “I’m as AMERICAN as they come! I can’t be bought, and I’m not backing down,” she wrote in a social media post.
AIPAC has, however, repeatedly rejected the notion that it is a lobby group that serves a foreign government.
Instead, the organisation has presented itself as a coalition of engaged Americans who view a close US-Israel alliance as beneficial for both countries.
“As proud, pro-Israel Americans, we will never apologise for participating in the political process and standing up to those who undermine our shared values,” the group said in a recent email to supporters that listed the Senate race in Michigan as “critical”.
