United States – A group of progressive groups are calling on US President Joe Biden and other Democratic Party leaders to decline to accept the donations or the support of an Israeli pro-group and its super PACs.
Reject AIPAC
The coalition “Reject AIPAC” consists of the Justice Democrats group from the congress and the Democratic Socialists of America organization targeting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and similar groups. So far, AIPAC and several other major lobbying groups have already flooded millions of dollars into the 2024 US election cycle, as reported by Reuters.
The groups’ campaigning has been part of an organized movement within the Democratic party challenging Biden’s support for Israel. Israel’s assaults on Gaza have resulted in the deaths of 31,000 people, as confirmed by health officials working in the enclave, and they have also created a humanitarian disaster. manners is getting the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, which killed 1,200 in a retaliation manner.
Protest against US relations with Israel was a major factor in voters, according to Biden, in Minnesota and Michigan primaries, which resulted in a majority of the delegates left uncommitted.
“The coalition has been in the works for many months to get organizations together that have recognized the destructive influence of AIPAC,” Ashik Siddique, a co-chair for the Democratic Socialists of America, said.
Principle to reject AIPAC
The Reject AIPAC movement announced on Monday that they want to make it a principle of the Democratic Party not to accept help from AIPAC, one that gives tons of money from people who also donate to Republicans.
Questioned for a comment, AIPAC replied in a declaration that its single-purpose evaluation towards candidates from both parties should be based on their outlook on the U.S.-Israel relationship enhancement.
Biden, his campaign, and the Democratic National Committee also did not issue comments, as journalists at the time requested.
Some of the biggest contributors to the United Democracy Project, the super PAC that works in line with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, include the Marcus Foundation, a group founded by Ben Marcus (the co-founder of the Home Depot), and Elliott Investment Management, according to data from a nonprofit research group called OpenSecrets. Both the foundation and the managers are involved in fulfilling Republican interests.
Additionally, to UDP, there are donors of an epoch of Democratic philanthropy.
Funding Aid
According to OpenSecrets data, Biden has been a top recipient of pro-Israel lobby financial aid over his long legislative career, totaling almost 5.2 million US dollars compared to other recipients over a period of three decades.
AIPAC reported in January of the year 2023-2024 about $24.8 million to the United States Federal Election Commission, as per Department of Justice statistics. From the last five years, the UDP has managed to raise this amount of money approximately at $46.1 million.
During the last election, UDP expended $4.6 million against the popular incumbent of 47th congressional district Dave Min, a democratic representative in California, who was victor in the Super Tuesday primary, as reported by Reuters.
In addition, the UDP committee will also focus on campaigning for a US House of Representatives seat in Illinois. It has so far spent $268,000 to counter Kina Collins, a democratic activist. She is running for the position of Illinois’ 7th Congressional District representative in the primary elections on Mar. 19.