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$14.5 million was spent to defeat one member of Congress. The receipts are public and every other lawmaker understood the warning.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
New York Representative Jamaal Bowman called for a ceasefire in Gaza. AIPAC spent $14.5 million to eliminate him. Missouri Representative Cori Bush made the same call. AIPAC spent $9 million to unseat her. The average House race costs $2.1 million. AIPAC spent seven times that amount to defeat a single representative. When you spend $14.5 million to defeat one congressman, you send a message to every other member of Congress about what happens when they cross Israel.
The Bowman operation came the same year AIPAC spent $100 million on congressional races, a 769% increase from 2022. AIPAC reached 349 members of Congress with direct financial support, including $654,000 to House Speaker Mike Johnson and $933,000 to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Of 469 congressional seats up for reelection, AIPAC spent money on 389 races, transforming a lobbying organization into the single most powerful force in American electoral politics.
Elliott Brandt stood before AIPAC’s 2025 Congressional Summit and bragged that his organization has “cultivated influence” with three of Trump’s top national security officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has collected over $1 million from AIPAC throughout his career.
He bragged. He didn’t confess.
A foreign lobbying organization announced the purchase of American national security policy. Nobody tried to stop him. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz received nearly $250,000. Trump appointed both men at the urging of Miriam Adelson, the casino billionaire who bankrolled Trump’s campaign and tells him who to hire for national security positions. Her Preserve America PAC contributed $120 million to his 2024 campaign.
They Get Healthcare. You Get GoFundMe.
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Photo credit: AP Photo J. Scott Applewhite
The United States provides Israel $3.8 billion in military aid annually. That translates to $7,200 per minute flowing from American taxpayers to a foreign military. In 2024, Congress approved an additional $14.1 billion emergency package at Netanyahu’s request, bringing total U.S. aid to Israel to over $300 billion since 1948. The disparity between what American tax dollars purchase abroad and what they provide at home reveals whose interests govern American policy.
Israeli citizens receive universal healthcare from birth, paying three to five percent of income in health taxes while the government negotiates drug prices. Israelis live an average of 82.3 years compared to 76.4 years for Americans. Over 45,000 Americans die annually from lack of health insurance, a Yale study found. Twenty-seven million Americans have no coverage whatsoever.
While you crowdfund insulin on Facebook, your tax dollars give every Israeli citizen universal healthcare. While you choose between bankruptcy and chemotherapy, Israelis pay 3-5% of income for full coverage.
Higher education makes the imbalance unmistakable. In Israel, university tuition averages roughly $3,000 per year, reflecting a national decision to treat education as infrastructure rather than extraction. In the United States, graduates exit the same stage of life carrying an average of $37,338 in debt, feeding a student loan system that now exceeds $1.7 trillion and functions less as investment than as lifelong financial restraint.
The consequences deepen at the moment families are formed. Israeli law guarantees 26 weeks of paid maternity leave at full salary, recognizing recovery and bonding as public goods with long term social return. The United States, alone among industrialized nations, offers no federal paid leave at all, effectively forcing mothers back into the workforce within weeks or pushing them out entirely under the threat of lost income and health coverage.
Childcare policy completes the picture. Israeli families spend roughly eight percent of household income on subsidized care, a structure designed to preserve labor participation without punishing parenthood. American families pay an average of $11,582 per child each year, a cost that exceeds in state college tuition in 32 states, while prominent political figures propose unpaid grandmother labor as a substitute for public investment, normalizing exhaustion as policy.
Across these domains, the pattern holds with brutal consistency. Postpartum recovery is treated abroad as a societal obligation, while in the United States it becomes a private emergency managed through debt, depleted savings, and physical collapse. Affordable childcare elsewhere is framed as economic stability, while similar protections at home are dismissed as fiscally impossible despite vastly greater national resources.
This divergence is not cultural and it is not accidental. Israeli politicians prioritize citizen wellbeing because their authority depends on delivering material security to voters, while American politicians increasingly prioritize donor alignment over constituent survival. When Marco Rubio votes for $14.1 billion in foreign aid after collecting more than $1 million from AIPAC, representation ceases to function as democracy and begins operating as transaction, leaving Americans rationing insulin while policy answers elsewhere.
The Billionaires Who Own Your Vote Have Names
Jan Koum, the former WhatsApp CEO, donated $5 million to AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC in 2024 while simultaneously giving $5 million to Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign. Bernie Marcus, the Home Depot founder, contributed $1 million to UDP. Paul Singer, who bankrolled Rudy Giuliani, donated another $1 million. Bob Kraft gave $500,000 after contributing $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
Politico confirmed that AIPAC became “the biggest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries” in 2024. AIPAC backed 96% of winning candidates in general elections and supported 109 Republican members of Congress who voted to reject the 2020 presidential election certification.
Track AIPAC analysis uncovered over $230 million in pro-Israel spending benefiting Trump since 2020. Adelson’s Preserve America PAC contributed $215 million to that total. Vice President JD Vance received $167,000 from the Israel lobby.
The $100 Million Legal Loophole
Leaked documents from Israel’s Ministry of Justice revealed that in 2018, the Israeli government sought legal advice on Foreign Agents Registration Act compliance. Officials worried that registration “would damage the reputation of Israeli-directed American groups” and that donors would refuse to fund registered foreign agents.
The ministry hired Washington law firm Sandler Reiff to develop avoidance strategies. The solution involved creating new American nonprofits that would remain “informally managed” by the Israeli government while maintaining enough distance to claim independence.
AIPAC maintains a Jerusalem office established in 1982. In 2024, the organization pushed Congress to approve $14.1 billion in emergency military aid matching Netanyahu’s specific funding request.
When the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, AIPAC immediately lobbied for congressional sanctions against the ICC, fulfilling Foreign Minister Israel Katz’s explicit request for American retaliation.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires organizations acting “at the order, request, or under the direction or control” of a foreign government to register and disclose all funding sources, meetings with foreign officials, and policy directives. AIPAC operates a Jerusalem office, coordinates policy with Israeli officials, and executes Israeli government requests to Congress, yet refuses to register.
Violations carry up to five years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines per violation.
You’re Paying for This Through the Tax Code
American donors fund AIPAC’s European counterpart through tax-deductible contributions, which means taxpayers subsidize foreign lobbying through lost tax revenue. The European Leadership Network, founded by former AIPAC consultant Raanan Eliaz, explicitly calls itself “the AIPAC of Europe.” U.S. foundations funnel millions through Friends of ELNET, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to lobby European parliaments on behalf of Israeli government interests.
The Intercept reported on December 15, 2024, that ELNET secured a $3.5 billion deal for Germany to purchase Israeli drones and rockets, marking the largest arms deal in Israel’s history. The organization received direct reimbursement from the Israeli government for a lobbying event at the French Parliament, Mediapart documented. ELNET’s president is David Siegel, previously an Israeli diplomat, AIPAC legislative writer, and IDF officer. The leadership includes two former Netanyahu advisers.
Foundations that donated millions to ELNET also gave substantial sums to AIPAC and AIPAC’s educational arm, which sponsors congressional trips to Israel coordinated with Israeli government officials. These trips function as lobbying operations where American elected officials meet directly with Israeli government officials to receive policy directives, all funded through tax-deductible charitable donations.
The Democrats Who Finally Said No
In 2025, Representatives Deborah Ross, Valerie Foushee, Morgan McGarvey, and Seth Moulton announced they would no longer accept AIPAC donations. The Nation reported that uncritical support for Israel “is becoming an impediment to Democratic politicians.”
Cori Bush spoke after her defeat with remarkable clarity: “AIPAC’s all-out spending unfortunately not only drowned out our message but contributed to confusion about my values and record.” The ads attacking her focused relentlessly on crime and education while never mentioning her position on Gaza.
Voters thought they chose between candidates on crime and schools. AIPAC asked them to rubber-stamp Israel policy. Democracy doesn’t work like that. Democracy requires informed consent.
Here’s Exactly How to Stop Them
You already paid for this. Now make them answer.
The Department of Justice National Security Division accepts FARA complaints documenting AIPAC’s Jerusalem office operations, coordination with Israeli officials, and policy alignment matching Israeli government directives. State Attorneys General investigate nonprofits operating outside stated charitable purposes. Friends of ELNET’s tax-deductible foreign lobbying violates 501(c)(3) requirements.
IRS Form 13909 reports tax-exempt organizations operating beyond stated purposes. AIPAC’s educational arm claims 501(c)(3) status while conducting foreign government propaganda operations including congressional trips coordinated with Israeli officials. House and Senate ethics rules prohibit members from accepting anything of value from foreign governments. Federal election law prohibits foreign nationals from making political contributions. The Federal Election Commission investigates whether American organizations serve as conduits for foreign government funds or coordination.
File the FARA complaint by going to justice.gov/nsd-fara, clicking “Contact Us,” and using the subject line “FARA Violation Complaint (AIPAC).” In the body, write: “AIPAC operates a Jerusalem office, coordinates with Israeli government officials, and executes Israeli government policy requests to Congress without FARA registration. See documented evidence at [link to this article].”
Email your representative: “Representative [Name], according to OpenSecrets, you received $[amount] from AIPAC. The organization spent $100 million in 2024 buying 389 congressional races while operating a Jerusalem office and coordinating with Israeli government officials without registering as a foreign agent. Meanwhile, Israeli citizens receive universal healthcare, $3,000 university tuition, and 26 weeks paid maternity leave, funded partly by $3.8 billion in annual U.S. aid. Will you return AIPAC donations and call for FARA enforcement? Your constituent, [Your name], [Your address].”
Forward this to three people who voted for someone AIPAC funded.
The evidence exists in public filings, congressional records, and investigative journalism that has mapped the financial flows and influence operations with precision. The laws exist in FARA statutes, tax codes, and election regulations designed to prevent exactly this kind of foreign influence. The only question: will you act before they buy the next election. Every day you wait gives them another day to consolidate power purchased with foreign money while you pay for healthcare systems you’ll never access and education programs your children can’t afford. They bought your congressman with money that could have sent 6,905 Americans to college for free.
SOURCES:
OpenSecrets: American Israel Public Affairs Committee Summary https://www.opensecrets.org/
The Intercept: “How AIPAC’s Record Spending Helped Shape the 2024 Elections” https://theintercept.com/2024/
The Intercept: “The Israel Lobby’s Quiet Cultivation of European Leaders” https://theintercept.com/2024/
The New Republic: “Report: AIPAC Spent a Record Amount on the 2024 Election” https://newrepublic.com/post/
Track AIPAC: Trump Analysis https://www.trackaipac.com/
Democracy Now!: “Rep. Cori Bush Loses Primary After AIPAC Spent Over $9 Million to Defeat Her” https://www.democracynow.org/
Al Jazeera: “What’s Behind the Historic Pro-Israel Spending in a New York House Primary” https://www.aljazeera.com/
Axios: “Democrats Face Backlash Over AIPAC Spending in Jamaal Bowman Race” https://www.axios.com/2024/06/
Forward: “Tucker Carlson, Ted Cruz Clash Over Whether AIPAC Should Register as Foreign Agent” https://forward.com/news/
American Council for Judaism: “AIPAC’s New Political Role Raises Old Questions About Foreign Agent Registration” https://acjna.org/articles/
U.S. Department of Justice: Foreign Agents Registration Act - Frequently Asked Questions https://www.justice.gov/nsd-
OpenSecrets: Pro-Israel Industry Profile (2024 Cycle) https://www.opensecrets.org/
Public Citizen: Comments to DOJ on Proposed Rulemaking for Amending FARA Regulations https://www.citizen.org/
Congressional Research Service: U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel https://sgp.fas.org/crs/
Council on Foreign Relations: “U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts” https://www.cfr.org/article/
CBS News: “Life Expectancy for American Men Drops a Staggering Amount” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/
Yale News: “Lack of Health Insurance Kills Around 45,000 People a Year” https://news.yale.edu/2023/02/
Education Data Initiative: Average Student Loan Debt https://educationdata.org/
Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker: How Does Health Spending in the U.S. Compare to Other Countries? https://www.
Truthout: “Jamaal Bowman Loses Primary After AIPAC Poured Record $14.5M Into Race” https://truthout.org/articles/
The Intercept: “AIPAC Millions Help Wesley Bell Beat Cori Bush” https://theintercept.com/2024/
OpenSecrets: “Midterm Spending Spree: Cost of 2022 Federal Elections Tops $8.9 Billion” https://www.opensecrets.org/
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