As we approach the November elections in the United States, political dynamics related to Israel-Palestine continue to influence key developments in the American political arena. Public opinion is no longer as dominantly favourable towards Israel as it used to be, which worries the Israeli government and its American supporters.

This is most apparent in the actions of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the leading pro-Israel lobbying group in the US. Over the past few months, it invested $8.5m in a campaign to defeat progressive Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush in the Democratic primaries in Missouri. Bush, who championed Palestine justice issues in Congress, lost to St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell on Tuesday. This followed AIPAC providing the unprecedented single-contest amount of $17m to defeat another Palestine supporter, Congressman Jamal Bowman, in the Democratic primaries in New York.

After Bowman’s loss, AIPAC declared the pro-Israel position in the US as “both good policy and good politics.”

Responding to this claim, leftist activist Medea Benjamin wrote: “On the contrary, it showed that pro-Israel groups can buy elections and it sent a frightening message to all elected officials that if they criticize Israel, even during a genocide, they may well pay with their careers.”

She pointed out that while AIPAC’s funding of Bush’s and Bowman’s defeats demonstrate the pro-Israeli lobby’s power and resources, they also show that it must now provide ever greater sums of cash to keep Congress Israel-friendly and minimise the impact of progressive members.

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