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.

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