sprusansky_20-21.qxp_Special Report 2/3/22 9:55 AM Page 20
Special Report
What to Make of AIPAC Entering the World of Political Contributions By Dale Sprusansky
ZOOM SCREENSHOT
However, McMahon and her peers at the Washington Report have been diligently tracking and reporting on the activities of these groups for decades by scouring through Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. While following PAC donations gives one an indication of which candidates the lobby favors, PACs are just the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of the vast sums being spent on pro-Israel politics, McMahon noted. This is because of two growing phenomena. The first is a tactic known as “bundling,” in which a group of people send individual contributions directly to a candidate all at (Clockwise, l‐r) Grant F. Smith, Walter L. Hixson and Janet L. McMahon discuss AIPAC’s new political once to demonstrate their collecaction committees and the implications for America on Dec. 22, 2021. tive financial power and passion THE ISRAEL LOBBY network received a major shakeup in Defor a particular issue, like Israel. Such contributions are recorded cember when the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) by the FEC, but are not officially logged as stemming from a group announced its intention to launch a political action committee (PAC) with a political agenda. and a super PAC. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs There is also the rising prominence of “dark money” groups, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) held McMahon noted. “Dark money” groups are permitted to engage in a webinar on Dec. 22, 2021 to dissect the ramifications of this news. political activities such as buying advertisements, but they are proJanet L. McMahon, the former managing editor of the Washington hibited from directly contributing to individual campaigns. Unlike Report and editor of the “Other Voices” supplement, noted that while PACs, “dark money” organizations are not required to disclose their AIPAC has long coordinated pro-Israel activism and policies, it has donors, since they are registered as non-profits with the Internal never directly contributed to political campaigns. Instead, it has Revenue Service. This makes figuring out who is pulling the levers served as the nexus of pro-Israel activity in the U.S., sending cues behind large political influence campaigns difficult. to the more than 100 pro-Israel PACs that do directly support indiIndeed, often times voters don’t even know the advertisement vidual political campaigns. they are consuming is from a “dark money” group, especially when McMahon noted that the vast majority of these pro-Israel PACs that group is pro-Israel. This, McMahon explained, is because prohave “very innocuous names” that few Americans would associIsrael groups tend to attack Israel’s critics on unrelated “scandals” ate with Israel, such as the Joint Action Committee for Political and issues. “When the lobby goes after a candidate, they don’t Affairs, Desert Caucus PAC and Hudson Valley PAC. “There’s no usually say it’s because of that person’s record on Israel, it’s a difway you would know what their agenda is,” McMahon observed— ferent issue entirely,” McMahon noted. The reason for this is clear: and this is intentional. “The idea is that they are not visible, AmerUnlike the megadonors funding these ads, very few voters are raticans are not aware of the activities of these PACs,” she noted. tled by a candidate questioning the actions of a foreign country such as Israel. Grant F. Smith, the director of IRmep, estimated that about $6 billion is donated to “dark money” pro-Israel groups every year. He beDale Sprusansky is managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. lieves AIPAC’s new PAC and super PAC have the potential to raise 20
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
MARCH/APRIL 2022
