Friends,
Last week, AIPAC – through their Super PAC called United Democracy Project – poured $2.3 million worth of attack ads into a New Jersey Democratic congressional primary.
Their target was Tom Malinowski, a moderate former Member of Congress and Obama-era diplomat who had a strong pro-Israel voting record but had refused to commit to voting for blank check millitary assistance to the Netanyahu government.
AIPAC successfully denied Tom a return to Congress ($2.3 million is more than most campaigns themselves raise for a primary). It also resulted in an “epic own goal” – the victor wasn’t AIPAC’s preferred choice, but rather the furthest left candidate in the race.
It’s a moment that’s left many – left, right and center – asking: What was AIPAC thinking?
It’s no secret that, for years, J Street has loudly warned about the dangers of AIPAC’s political strategy. Endorsing and fundraising for anti-democratic election deniers. Taking money from Republican mega-donors to flood Democratic primaries. Demanding a nuance-free “Israel is always right” response from lawmakers.
None of the above advances the cause of a strong US-Israel relationship grounded in shared values and interests.
I say this with deep respect for AIPAC’s past. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, the organization rallied vital support for Israel’s survival – as our community united in concern, pride and solidarity.
But history did not stop in the 1970s, and, as Israeli politics has moved sharply rightward in the decades since, unquestioning support for Israel stopped reflecting the bulk of American Jewish opinion.
Netanyahu and his allies abandoned peace efforts, pursued relentless settlement expansion and waged an unfathomably devastating war in Gaza. Many Americans came to realize that supporting Israel’s people and future meant opposing the Netanyahu government’s policies.
That is not hostility. Many of us criticize because we want Israel to survive and thrive.
Yet AIPAC now treats even good-faith criticism from friends as a threat to be crushed.
Armed with a war chest of $100 million raised from wealthy donors – many of whom are known to back Republicans – it is aggressively intervening in Democratic primaries.
Its targets are not necessarily Israel’s harshest critics, but mainstream Democrats like Malinowski or Daniel Biss (the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor running in Illinois’ 9th District) whose views sit well within the Jewish communal consensus.
With AIPAC’s own brand becoming toxic in Democratic politics, they now route their spending through vaguely-named groups whose ties to AIPAC often become clear only after the election.
The message Democrats hear when targeted in this way is not “stand with Israel because we share values and interests” – it’s fall in line, or else.
Support coerced through fear is brittle.
If we want enduring support for Israel – across political parties and generations – we must root the relationship in the best of our values, face hard truths when those values are violated and remain open to real debate and dissent.
And, in this moment when fascism is rearing its ugly head, Jewish political leaders and institutions should use our resources to fight the threats to our democracy.
That is the political strategy we’re pursuing at J Street:
- Pressing for balanced policies that uphold our values on Capitol Hill;
- Endorsing proud champions of our priorities in primaries;
- Raising as much money and support as we possibly can to defeat the forces of fascism in the midterms.
I’m deeply thankful for your support in that fight and invite you to consider a contribution to fund this work.
Yours,
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
