Washington DC – A Super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has mounted its first major challenge in the U.S. midterm elections.
But this time, the pro-Israel lobby is not targeting progressive candidates pushing for a U.S.-Israel policy reset, but so-called “moderate” Democrats who have lukewarmly questioned Washington’s unconditional military support amid the genocidal war in Gaza.
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The American Democracy Project’s (UDP) spending of $2.2 million targeting former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski ahead of Thursday’s Democratic primary in New Jersey comes as opinion polls continue to show a surge in disappointment among Democratic voters about America’s staunch support for Israel.
Amid the shifting views, critics see the spending strategy as a broader message to candidates preparing for party primaries in the months ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that will determine the composition of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Sadaf Jafer, a former member of the New Jersey state legislature and a past critic of Malinowski’s refusal to take a hard line on Israel, told Al Jazeera: “They are very concerned about the changing views of the Democratic Party, particularly on the financing of Israel, and they are very keen to ensure that a Democratic Party gets elected that is out of touch with Democratic voters more broadly,” he told Al Jazeera.
The candidates in the 11-way primary are running to represent suburban districts in central New Jersey that are increasingly seen as Democratic-leaning. The by-election is scheduled for April 16.
But the UDP’s strategy appears to have focused on Malinowski. Neither AIPAC nor Super PAC explicitly endorsed former New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Tehesha Way. But she won the support of another pro-Israel lobbying group, the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI).
“The implication (of AIPAC) is that this is a way to scare people in the middle who are starting to express concerns about what’s going on and the money that’s going to Israel,” Jaffer said.
“It seems very excessive… but it could also be an investment meant to intimidate others who are watching,” she said.
familiar strategy
Some parts of the strategy became familiar. In the 2024 U.S. election, the UDP has poured about $35 million into the party’s primary, with its biggest purchases aimed at thwarting Democratic candidates who have called for an end to aid to Israel.
That includes a total of $24 million against progressive lawmakers Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush. Both were defeated by opponents running to the right.
Like the messaging targeting that candidate, the ad campaign for Malinowski did not specifically mention Israel. Instead, the focus is on more domestic issues, including Malinowski’s past stock trading and his vote in support of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) annual funding bill in 2019.
Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy, criticism is pouring in as support for U.S. immigration and ICE, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, is shrinking among Democratic voters.
Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, an organization that supports progressive candidates that AIPAC regularly targets, called this approach particularly disingenuous, noting that AIPAC previously supported Malinowski despite voting for DHS funding.
During his three previous runs for Congress, Malinowski received more than $378,000 from pro-Israel groups, including those affiliated with AIPAC.
“As always, it is interesting to look at it again and not see a single television ad that actually mentions Israel as a ‘single issue,’” he told Al Jazeera.
“Tom Malinowski is not a champion of progressive values or the Palestinian people, but he won’t ask, ‘How high?’ When they say ‘jump,’” he said. Andrabi told Al Jazeera. “For AIPAC, that’s not enough. They truly demand unconditional support for their policies.”
Malinowski previously served as the Washington director of Human Rights Watch, during which time he lobbied to ensure that U.S. aid was not used to further Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights.
But as a member of Congress from 2019 to 2023, Malinowski took a distinctly different path in Congress, including petitioning against the terms of U.S. aid to Israel.
Malinowski, who served as assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor under former President Barack Obama, further enraged pro-Palestinian advocates by suggesting that the use of the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” to describe Israel’s approach to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank fuels anti-Jewish sentiment in the United States.
Nonetheless, the candidate was a vocal critic of AIPAC’s approach ahead of Thursday’s vote, denouncing the influence of “dark money” on the race.
As reported by the New Jersey Globe news site, Malinowski told a small group of supporters in mid-January: “I have committed one sin in their hearts.”
“I had no intention of telling them that I would blindly, unquestioningly, support Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s request for support. That position placed me not only in the mainstream of all Americans, but also in the mainstream of the Jewish and pro-Israel community in this country,” he said.
‘acidity’
UDP’s spending has also been criticized by other pro-Israel lobbying groups, including J Street, which supports Israel but has strongly criticized it for providing a “blank check” to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This undermines bipartisan support, alienates the next generation, both Jewish and non-Jewish, and links Israel’s fate to the most corrosive elements of American politics,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the group that supported Malinowski, wrote in a Substack post in January.
AIPAC and UDP did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on the spending plan’s goals.
But Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, which advocates for justice for Palestinians through U.S. policy, saw the attacks on Malinowski as consistent with AIPAC’s growing embrace of the Republican Party, which remains staunchly pro-Israel. She pointed to the UDP’s history of relying on donations from wealthy conservatives to influence Democratic primaries.
Former Rep. Jaffer pointed out that the Super PAC did not target Analilia Mejia, a progressive who has been endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Some analysts have suggested that AIPAC could see a win-win approach in targeting Malinowski, which could lead to the success of a candidate like Way, who leads the New Jersey-Israel Committee and has been embraced by many right-wing Israeli media outlets, or could lead to the success of a candidate like Mejia, who could be seen as more vulnerable to Republicans in the general election.
Miller said the spending “should show all other candidates that there is no centrist or middle-of-the-road line that will protect them from AIPAC spending attacks.”
“Democratic candidates watching the New Jersey by-election should learn that fully embracing Palestinian rights and demanding that America end its complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide is the politically and morally correct course of action,” she told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Andrabi and former Rep. Jaffer saw the potential for their approach to backfire, especially as AIPAC became an increasingly toxic brand in some segments of the Democratic Party.
“The most I hear people talking about AIPAC is people who don’t really care about Israel-Palestine,” Jaffer told Al Jazeera, adding that outside spending in the race left a “sour taste” with some New Jersey residents.
Andrabi added, “It was interesting to see how moderates and corporate Democrats around the world were willing to comment on (AIPAC).”
This comes as AIPAC and UDP have raised a war chest of $100 million by 2026.
“What (AIPAC) is really doing is expanding the base of people who don’t like AIPAC and people who will vote against candidates to get AIPAC’s support,” he said.
