This midterms cycle, however, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s strategy seems to suggest the opposite.
asserted
strategy → seem → opposite
Contrary to its signature slogan, AIPAC’s name has become anathema to voters across the political spectrum repulsed by Israel’s genocide in Gaza and frustrated by Washington’s outpouring of military aid for a foreign government while domestic costs soar.
asserted
costs → become → government
So it’s going underground.
asserted
it → go → ?
As The Intercept reported in December, AIPAC entered the 2026 midterms by returning to its strategic roots — funding other groups and uniting donors, rather than focusing on direct-to-candidate spending.
asserted
AIPAC → report → spending
Now, AIPAC has announced that it will no longer officially endorse or contribute directly to candidates.
asserted
it → announce → candidates
Though progressives welcomed the announcement as evidence of AIPAC’s retreat, it’s far from a sign that AIPAC is backing down.
asserted
AIPAC → welcome → sign
The group is expected to continue spending heavily on elections through its super PAC, which took advantage of campaign finance loopholes to conceal its involvement in several races this cycle until after elections had already passed.
asserted
elections → expect → races
To Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, AIPAC’s opting for obscurity shows that “its brand has become politically radioactive.”
asserted
brand → opt → obscurity
But how much has really changed?
asserted
much → change → ?
As AIPAC shifts strategy, a new project by The Intercept reveals the hundreds of candidates still taking its cash, plus how the money paid off for them.
asserted
money → shift → them
The data suggests that though the pro-Israel lobbying giant may be weakened, it’s still dominant.
uncertain
it → suggest → ?
The Intercept tracked how much the group and its super PAC spent on elections to put pro-Israel candidates on the ballot in this year’s midterms — including the money it tried to keep out of the public eye.
asserted
it → track → eye
While AIPAC makes use of a series of new pop-ups and pass-throughs, it still poured millions directly into 2026 midterm races.
asserted
it → make → races
Its candidates usually still win.
asserted
candidates → win → ?
The new data builds on a 2024 project in which The Intercept documented just how AIPAC shaped the last congressional class.
asserted
AIPAC → build → class
At the time, Donald Trump was preparing for his return to the presidency as Kamala Harris ran a campaign hamstrung by public disillusionment over the Biden administration’s unflinching support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
asserted
Harris → prepare → Gaza
To critics of Israel desperate to stop the violence, the two parties looked equally bleak, and the pro-Israel lobby’s grip on Congress appeared unshakeable.
asserted
grip → stop → Congress
Primaries across the country saw candidates win after vowing to cut off or restrict military aid to Israel, and incumbents signed on to legislation blocking weapons transfers in an attempt to keep their seats.
asserted
incumbents → see → seats
But the shift should not be overstated: AIPAC still waded into nearly three-quarters of races, and its candidates still won far more often than they lost.
In total, AIPAC or its super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent on 333 of the 473 seats up for election this year.
asserted
AIPAC → overstate → election
These are the dollars AIPAC and UDP spent directly in races.
asserted
AIPAC → spend → races
The former makes contributions to candidates, while the latter, as AIPAC’s leading super PAC, makes independent expenditures, like buying ads.
asserted
latter → make → ads
They made up the bulk of the pro-Israel lobby’s known elections spending — $53.3 million from AIPAC and $66.7 million from UDP, compared to $53.7 million and $41.4 million last cycle.
asserted
They → make → million
Simultaneously, the groups took up another tack: making it harder to tell which races they were actually involved in.
asserted
they → take → races
The group’s donors poured money into races where AIPAC didn’t officially endorse a candidate.
asserted
AIPAC → pour → candidate
AIPAC’s board president hosted a fundraiser for a candidate who swore the group wasn’t backing her.
asserted
group → host → her
And in a series of races, no one knew for certain that AIPAC had spent on the election until after it was over.
asserted
it → know → election
The group tested different strategies in different states, spending directly in the Michigan Senate race, for example, while concealing its spending in several other primaries.
asserted
group → test → primaries
In those races, UDP gave money to other committees, including a series of “pop-up PACs,” groups that registered just before primaries, allowing them to delay disclosing their donors until after the election passed.
asserted
election → give → donors
Several of those groups took money from AIPAC’s super PAC, spent on ads against candidates critical of Israel, and then disappeared.
asserted
Several → take → Israel
The pop-ups and pass-throughs represent AIPAC’s most talked-about new tactic, but the lobbying group and its flagship super PAC still sunk the bulk of their spending into key races and high-priority states.
asserted
group → represent → races
The Intercept analyzed where AIPAC employed which strategy, how UDP dollars flowed through pop-up PACs, and which candidates received the most AIPAC and UDP cash in their primaries.
asserted
candidates → analyze → primaries
The pro-Israel lobby’s biggest investment in the primaries turned out to be a disappointment.
asserted
investment → turn → primaries
UDP spent more than $30 million on ads attacking Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race or backing his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens.
asserted
UDP → spend → opponent
Now that El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee, UDP is also battling El-Sayed in his general election contest with Republican Mike Rogers, spending just over $500,000 so far.
asserted
UDP → battle → 500,000
Thanks in part to the deluge of spending, the El-Sayed–Stevens contest was one of the marquee primaries of 2026, pitting a vocal critic of the pro-Israel lobby who could become the first Muslim U.S. senator against an enthusiastic AIPAC cash recipient who famously said: “Israel comes to me in my dreams.”
uncertain
Israel → pit → dreams
It’s one of the key races where we’re breaking down the money AIPAC and UDP spent in favor of one candidate and against a clear opponent.
asserted
AIPAC → ’ → opponent
We’re skipping Democratic House candidate Adrian Boafo, who benefited from $5.7 million in UDP spending, because his Maryland primary included 23 other candidates.
asserted
primary → skip → candidates
After Stevens and Boafo, the top AIPAC and UDP recipient from this year’s primaries was Rep. Wesley Bell, a moderate Democrat from Missouri who fended off a challenge from former Rep. Cori Bush to return to the House (AIPAC spent millions to oust her last cycle).
asserted
AIPAC → fend → her
When UDP spending is excluded, Bell received more AIPAC funding in the primaries than any other Democrat.
asserted
Bell → exclude → Democrat
On the Republican side, the top beneficiary was Ed Gallrein, the Trump-backed challenger who unseated Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky.
asserted
who → back → Kentucky
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
