How Israel’s allies hijacked U.S. democracy

Pro-Israel donors poured unprecedented sums into the 2024 Presidential Election, distorting U.S. policy and undermining democracy, but signs of resistance are beginning to show, writes Bilal Cleland.

ONE OF THE BEST sources of information about the corruption of the American political system by pro-Israel funding sources is the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), produced by the American Educational Trust (AET).

According to the AET website:

‘The American Educational Trust (AET) is a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC in 1982 by retired U.S. Foreign Service officers to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states.’

Why the USA is so compliant towards Israel while antagonising and insulting its neighbours and allies can in some part be explained by the role of the Israeli lobby inside the American political system.

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In its report on the 2024 resuscitation of President Trump, the WRMEA details the corruption involved.

It also signals that this is not a static situation and that there are signs that the power of this corruption is weakening:

‘Although the daylight between the presidential candidates on Middle East policy is minimal, U.S. support for Israel is gradually becoming a subject of debate in U.S. politics. The Overton window has begun to shift within the Democratic Party, even as its candidates receive tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from pro-Israel Political Action Committees (PACs) and affiliated donors.’

Once the spotlight became focused on Israel with the Gaza genocide, it is only a matter of time before the decency of the people comes to the fore, to the detriment of the Children of Darkness.

The article continues:

‘This election cycle saw unprecedented spending by the Israel lobby, which donated more to House and Senate candidates than in the last two elections combined: $44,656,374 in 2023-2024, compared to $17,175,455 in 2021-2022 and $12,661,440 in 2019-2020. Since April, the lobby has spent over $7.5 million to bolster its favoured candidates in Congress.’

Of great interest to WRMEA was the underreporting of the payola by many candidates. For example, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) reported $671,578 for the 2023-2024 cycle in April but only $440,009 in September 2024.

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The Washington Report will seek answers from the campaigns about these discrepancies. Again, the smell of corruption.

Pro-Israel candidates got quite a boost in general in this election cycle:

‘Between April and September, pro-Israel donations to the campaign of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) increased from $7,800 to $109,034, candidate Brian Jack (R-GA) from $1,002 to $163,814, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) from $11,850 to $117,100...’

But these publicly disclosed donations are not the full story:

‘“Dark money” from nonprofits, which are not obligated to report their donors and have no spending limits, will also influence this election by spending exorbitantly on ads for or against candidates.’

The buckets of money are deep and secretive:

‘For example, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent a reported $15 million to bolster George Latimer in his primary against incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman, but only $1.6 million was listed as campaign contributions.’

The full list of non-dark money contributions can be found here.

Although the American democracy is in great peril under the AIPAC-funded Government with its anti-immigrant pogrom, its attacks on universities and attempts to restrict freedom of speech in opposition to genocide, the strength of the 2,000-plus “No Kings” demonstrations suggests the battle has not yet been lost.

The aggression against Iran has not only earned the opposition of nearly the whole world but has also started to split the MAGA base of the Trump Administration.

The saga is just beginning.