Former President Jimmy Carter wrote in 2006 that “reluctance to criticize policies of the Israeli government is due to the extraordinary lobbying efforts” of AIPAC and the “absence of any significant contrary voices.”” He added that “it would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to espouse a balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply with international law or to speak in defense of justice or human rights for Palestinians.”

Much of the overwhelmingly liberal U.S.-Jewish community has grown resentful of AIPAC’s self-appointed role as the monolithic voice of the American-Jewish consensus on Israel.

How did AIPAC begin?

Founded in 1953 as the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, AIPAC took on its more familiar title in 1963. But it only started accumulating sufficient financial and political clout in the 1970s to make its presence felt and start advocating for Congress and the White House to adopt an unequivocally pro-Israel U.S. policy.

AIPAC has long navigated the tension between its registration as a nonprofit organization and its insistence that does not directly represent a foreign government, i.e., Israel. Because the group is funded by private donors rather than the Israeli government or a foreign group, it does not need to be registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Until recently, its model utilized a tried-and-true method: Leveraging its influence on Democrats and Republicans alike thanks to hundreds of thousands of loyal supporters – many of whom are significant donors – spread across the United States. AIPAC’s affiliated American Israel Education Foundation nonprofit charitable group sponsors private trips to Israel for U.S. lawmakers, playing a major role in making Israel the most frequented travel destination for members of Congress.

if AIPAC said jump, we’d say ‘How high?’ It was pretty reflexive; I came to be bothered by that and a lot of members were bothered. A lot more members were bothered by that than cast votes that indicated that,” then-Rep. David Price told Haaretz shortly before his retirement in October 2021.

AIPAC has become steadily and increasingly ideologically aligned with the Republican Party – which has offered unconditional support for Israel while arguing Democrats are drifting further away from Israel.

AIPAC, Explained: The Inside Story of America’s Powerful and Divisive pro-Israel Lobby