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<\/a><\/p>\nActivists picket U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens’ suburban Detroit office to protest her acceptance of campaign funding from AIPAC, in Farmington Hills, Michigan on Nov. 10, 2025. (Jim West\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee announced the decision in a letter to its members on Wednesday, explaining that the lobby would now shift its focus to mobilizing individual donors. The abandonment of direct PAC contributions and candidate endorsements marks a significant reversal in a strategy that AIPAC launched in 2021, ahead of the 2022 election cycle. The letter informed donors that AIPAC\u2019s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, also launched in 2021, would continue to operate. <\/p>\n
The move came in an increasingly tense political cycle for AIPAC, which it called \u201cone of the most challenging environments in recent memory.\u201d The lobby has become a target for progressive candidates, particularly Democratic Socialists of America members, who have sharply criticized candidates who receive donations from AIPAC. In turn, the organization has become a symbol of undue political influence among some voters.<\/p>\n
The DSA responded to the lobby\u2019s policy shift by saying that \u201cAIPAC has realized what we all already knew: working people do not want their tax dollars to fund apartheid and genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and a staunch Israel critic, wrote that AIPAC\u2019s decision shows that \u201ccandidates don\u2019t want its backing,\u201d while the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace posted that AIPAC was now deeming itself \u201ctoo toxic.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal pro-Israel lobbying group J Street, which has frequently tangled with AIPAC on social media, argued in a statement that \u201cAIPAC can\u2019t save its brand by folding its PAC.\u201d Describing AIPAC as \u201ca once-revered organization,\u201d he said the lobby became toxic not due to its support of candidates but \u201cbecause of the policies it asks those candidates to defend.\u201d<\/p>\n
But those with ties to AIPAC defended the move as one that will actually help the lobby fortify its impact. \u201cIt\u2019s a marker of institutional health when they can look around at the reality, see it for what it is and change themselves accordingly,\u201d Jonathan Greenberg, director for combatting antisemitism at Defending Education and a former AIPAC staffer, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey recognized that their political ground had shifted and that they needed to change with that shift,\u201d added Greenberg, who served as AIPAC\u2019s Midwest political director until 2011 and ran for state office in Illinois as a Republican a year later.<\/p>\n
Calling out what he described as a \u201chorrifying demonization campaign\u201d against AIPAC in Washington, he said he believes that the lobbying group made this strategic decision in an effort to continue operating amid widespread antisemitism. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe pro-Israel community is still going to be deeply involved in campaigns,\u201d added Greenberg, who identifies as a political conservative but no longer a Republican. \u201cAIPAC is just wisely understanding that the way the organization operates can change, so that it can still be the voice that it\u2019s always been on Capitol Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recognizing that the U.S. political landscape is undergoing profound changes amid deep dissatisfaction across party lines, a former AIPAC spokesperson who requested anonymity to speak freely pointed out that institutions must evolve to stay effective. Other major interest groups, such as the pharmaceutical, hospital and real estate industries, are advancing their priorities with a variety of tactics, including lobbying, direct contributions, super PACs and networks of donors, the person noted.<\/p>\n
In fact, one point of agreement on Thursday between AIPAC\u2019s supporters and detractors was that the 72-year-old institution wasn\u2019t going anywhere. \u201cMobilizing greater resources for AIPAC, pro-Israel candidates, and our super PAC is critical,\u201d the AIPAC letter stressed, as it pledged to reinvest in its long-standing network of members nationwide. <\/p>\n
\u201cAIPAC staff and local leaders will continue working with you on political fundraising efforts, recommending contributions to candidates who are worthy of your support, and ensuring your resources are deployed in the most effective ways possible,\u201d the letter added.<\/p>\n
Indeed, opponents of the lobby indicated that the change in approach did little to satisfy them \u2013 and potentially opened up new lines of attack. DSA charged that AIPAC would \u201ctry to bankroll the same candidates under a different name.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t hide AIPAC,\u201d the DSA added. \u201cThe world has woken up.\u201d<\/p>\n
J Street\u2019s Ben-Ami maintained that AIPAC\u2019s decision to keep its super PAC even as it dropped its PAC \u201conly doubles down on the dark money politics that helped create its problem in the first place.\u201d Traditional PACs can contribute a maximum of $5,000 to individual candidates in each race, while super PACs can spend unlimited funds to independent political communications that serve to support or oppose candidates. Both have to disclose their donors, but super PAC donors aren\u2019t always transparent about the origins of their money.<\/p>\n
Tali deGroot, J Street\u2019s vice president of political and digital strategy, likewise assessed that AIPAC\u2019s influence wouldn\u2019t disappear in the next election cycle. <\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, AIPAC\u2019s donors and its super PAC will keep spending heavily in our elections, only now voters will have a harder time seeing where that money comes from,\u201d deGroot said.<\/p>\n
Defending Education\u2019s Greenberg acknowledged that AIPAC\u2019s choice to increase its reliance on its super PAC could fuel even more opposition to the lobby. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t think fashioning ourselves to placate antisemites gets us anywhere,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhat we know about antisemites, from thousands of years of dealing with them, is that if we don\u2019t give them this reason, they\u2019ll find another reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former AIPAC spokesperson said the jury was out on whether the AIPAC pivot would improve its public image. \u201cThe question is whether AIPAC\u2019s shift reflects a broader evolution in how organizations and interest groups engage politically, and whether changing its approach will change how the public perceives its influence,\u201d the former spokesperson noted.<\/p>\n