Why pro-Israel lobbying group has been targeted by progressive candidates
A pro-Israel lobbying group has become a political target for progressive congressional candidates hoping to represent the North, West and Northwest suburbs.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee aims to build congressional support for the Middle Eastern nation, a longtime U.S. ally. During the 2024 election cycle, its political action committee reportedly spent more than $53 million backing 361 Democratic and Republican candidates — 326 of whom won.
Joey Ruzevich, a Chicago Democrat running in the largely suburban 6th District, is among the progressives who want to reduce AIPAC’s clout on Capitol Hill.
“This is a foreign lobby seeking to influence American elections for the explicit purpose of obtaining more money and weapons to be sent to the foreign government AIPAC represents to commit absolutely horrific human rights violations,” Ruzevich said.
Ruzevich isn’t alone in this fight. Ninth District candidates Kat Abughazaleh of Chicago and Bushra Amiwala of Skokie and 10th District hopeful Morgan Coghill of Mundelein have gone after AIPAC in social media posts and other public statements.
“When a representative is bought and paid for by AIPAC, they are telling you that they don’t care about your interests,” Abughazaleh, who is Palestinian American, said in a recent video. “They are prioritizing Israel’s.”
AIPAC has fired volleys in this war of words, too. While backing Glenview’s Laura Fine in the 9th District, the group has sent emails labeling Abughazaleh “a direct threat to our mission and the future of Israel’s security.”
“AIPAC members will not be deterred by discriminatory attempts to drive them out of the democratic process,” spokesperson Deryn Sousa said.
What AIPAC does
Founded in 1954 as the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, AIPAC boasts more than 6 million members. It hosts conferences featuring political dignitaries including Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and — working through a charitable foundation — it frequently pays for American politicians to visit Israel.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans and members of Congress support the U.S.-Israel relationship because the Jewish state shares our democratic values and the alliance makes our country safer, stronger and more prosperous,” Sousa said.
AIPAC also has invested heavily in pro-Israel candidates since early 2022.
This election cycle, AIPAC is promoting the reelection campaigns of four Democratic and three Republican members of Illinois’ congressional delegation. Of those representatives, two — Highland Park Democrat Brad Schneider in the 10th District and Chicago Democrat Mike Quigley in the 5th — serve parts of the Northwest suburbs.
Schneider received more than $200,000 in earmarked donations from AIPAC last year, the most recent federal records show. “I am grateful to have the support of many people, of many faiths and affiliated with many different groups advocating for a strong US-Israel relationship,” Schneider said through a spokesperson.
Coghill, whose campaign to defeat Schneider in the March 17 primary has received no help from political action committees, has blasted Schneider for accepting AIPAC donations. “My campaign is powered by normal people with normal concerns,” Coghill said last year.
Quigley’s total during the same period was just over $1,000.
‘Easy target’
Israel has faced heavy criticism for its treatment of Palestinians, including alleged human rights abuses. That's intensified since the deadly, Hamas-led terror attack against Israel in 2023 and the war that followed.
The assertion that what’s happening in Gaza is genocide — which Israel denies — has resonated with younger progressives, said David Goldberg, a political science professor at College of DuPage. Combine that with accusations Israel is shifting toward authoritarianism under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and AIPAC becomes an “easy target,” he said.
Amiwala and Ruzevich called out AIPAC’s influence in U.S. politics at a recent news conference that also featured 7th District candidate Kina Collins of Chicago. Amiwala claimed the group spends “extraordinary sums of money to shape American elections and American policy in service of a foreign government.”
“Voters deserve better,” said Amiwala, one of 20 candidates running to succeed retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston in the 9th District.
Ruzevich, whose district is home to one of the nation’s largest Palestinian communities, accused incumbent Democrat Sean Casten of Downers Grove of taking money from AIPAC and sending cash and weapons to Israel “through the instructions of his AIPAC handler in Congress.”
However, a Daily Herald review of federal campaign finance records revealed no payments from AIPAC to the Casten campaign or any political action committees associated with him.
Casten also voted this month against bipartisan legislation that included $3.3 billion in military financing for Israel. He opposed Trump’s 2025 proposal to relocate Gaza’s Palestinian population, too, and he’s voted to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza while supporting Israel’s defensive security needs.
“Rep. Casten has always been a consistent and vocal supporter of a two-state solution that ensures security for Israelis and freedom and self-determination for the Palestinian people. His record reflects those values,” spokesperson Jacob Vurpillat said.
Will they move voters?
Voter turnout in midterm elections historically is significantly lower than during presidential elections, and one issue is unlikely to sway the voters who show up, said Melissa Mouritsen, a political science professor at College of DuPage.
On top of that, Americans generally care less about foreign policy than domestic issues, so Gaza probably isn’t a successful conversation starter for Democratic candidates at a voter’s front door, Mouritsen said. Immigration enforcement and other U.S. policies are better openers, she said.
“Maybe the AIPAC stuff plays on a TV ad or as part of a mailer,” she said.