The influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is “financed by the GOP” and its members “endorse supporters of the January 6 attack,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) writes in a fundraising email that went out today,
Ocasio-Cortez asserts that AIPAC has “put a target” on the backs of those who have “from Day 1” of the Israel-Hamas war “called for a ceasefire” and “advocated for the human rights of Palestinians.”
Pitching Democrats fearful of autocracy in the U.S. to contribute to her PAC, Ocasio-Cortez draws a parallel between the presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ocasio-Cortez writes: “It’s so important to understand that the threat to democracy — represented by both Netanyahu in Israel and Trump in the U.S. — is being supported by many that support AIPAC as well.”
Here Ocasio-Cortez is casting a wide net that people without the time to investigate could find misleading. AIPAC is indeed in opposition to the Palestinian protest movement, especially where that movement conflates the regrettable plight of innocent Palestinians with the murderous actions of Hamas terrorists. But it is not merely Trump and the GOP who are staunchly pro-Israel even as they want Palestinian civilians spared the atrocities of war. The Biden administration and other top Democrats have taken that stance.
Biden has not “lost his mind.” He is upholding the word of the US.
There are 1.3 million people in Rafah. You do not need to slaughter them to go after Hamas.
Biden stated the US red line was Rafah. It would make us weaker & the world less safe to let Bibi, or anyone, cross it. https://t.co/EKaGyYnyDH
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 9, 2024
And AIPAC’s powerful Political Action Committee, while supporting many far-right Republicans like House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), also supports House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA).
AIPAC asserts that its support for the enduring “ironclad” American-Israel alliance is the only chance the Middle East has for a two-state solution, writing that “a viable two-state agreement is only attainable if America’s support for Israel is ironclad, and the Jewish state knows it can take risks for peace because its ally and partner has its back.”
By all accounts, in response to the attacks on 10/7 the Israeli state is taking risks as it pursues the eradication of Hamas in the region. In Ocasio-Cortez’s view, the risks have been too great and too damaging — not only to Palestinians caught in the crossfire but also to Israel’s global standing. AIPAC does not concede this point, believing that the real target is on Israel’s back — as demonstrated on 10/7 — and that no target on Ocasio-Cortez’s back is comparable.