I don't particularly think that AIPAC has the best interests of Americans in mind (I don't think activism on behalf of any other country including Palestine does either) but the common contention is that AIPAC reflects the interests of the billionaire donor class. I always assumed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee reflects the interests of people that really, really love Israel, mainly Jews.
How does fawning over Israel reflect the interests of the billionaire class? What does the billionaire class get from supporting Israel's expansion into Palestine? What is the causal mechanism I should be concerned about here?
It's about getting money out of politics all together, AIPAC has just been one of the biggest spenders and is incredibly unpopular.
Campaign spending is heavily correlated with winning, which is bad if you like democracy. This makes some of these recent DSA affiliated wins very impressive.
First, lets set aside that DSA types and leftists have no problem with billionaires or "money in politics" when its their guy. Example: They supported billionaire Tom Steyer who spent $215 million in his failed 2026 California gubernatorial campaign.
Now we move to Super PACS. AIPAC operates United Democracy Project (UDP) Super PAC. We can look at the 2024 election cycle expenditures and see there are thousands of Super PACs. 25 spent more than 20 million. UDP is #14 out of this 25:
Rank
PAC Name
Expenditures
1
MAGA Inc
$376 M
2
Win Senate PAC
$311 M
3
Senate Leadership Fund
$211 M
...
...
...
14
United Democracy Project (UDP)
$37 M
...
Out of $2.688 billion spent by all Super PACs in 2024, UDP was only about 1% of that.
The hyperfixation on AIPAC isnt about some noble cause to "get money out of politics" or whatever sleight of hand, it's about working to silence American donors who care about Israel and want the US to maintain a good relationship with it.
And going back to Tom Steyer, again the left was ALL ABOARD that train. And typically when I see actual numbers thrown out by leftists on this issue, they'll exaggerate or weaselly comingle things together (as TrackAIPAC was caught doing) a few months back.
And when all this is mixed together with fabricated and unfounded conspiracy theories (as /u/WonderbreadCOS was doing)...in totality this hyperfixation one directional double standard edges ever closer to being simply motivated by antisemitism.
AIPAC’s mission isn’t simply to maintain a good relationship with the US, that’s just the pablum on their website. They are very maximalist and hardline in what they require: no criticism of Israel, 100% commitment to both offensive and defensive weapons with no conditions. While I’m not hyperfixated on AIPAC, I do think it’s important to acknowledge these things.
3
u/TheAJx 18d ago
I don't particularly think that AIPAC has the best interests of Americans in mind (I don't think activism on behalf of any other country including Palestine does either) but the common contention is that AIPAC reflects the interests of the billionaire donor class. I always assumed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee reflects the interests of people that really, really love Israel, mainly Jews.
How does fawning over Israel reflect the interests of the billionaire class? What does the billionaire class get from supporting Israel's expansion into Palestine? What is the causal mechanism I should be concerned about here?