When Is Criticizing AIPAC and Other Pro-Israel Lobbying Groups Legitimate, and When Does It Slide Into Antisemitism?

AIPAC just spent a record $30 million trying to sway one Senate primary in Michigan. And if you’ve heard anything about that race, you know AIPAC’s involvement isn’t merely a footnote to the story. It’s the story itself.

I’m Dov Waxman. I’m a professor of Israel Studies at UCLA and scholar-in-residence at the Nexus Project.

I’ve been thinking a lot about a question a lot of people are avoiding. When is criticizing a powerful lobbying group legitimate? And when does it slide into antisemitism?

So here’s my honest take. Criticizing AIPAC spending isn’t antisemitic on its own. Lots of interest groups spend big money in politics. No one bats an eye when advocates call out Big Pharma, or the gun lobby, or oil tycoons.

But when that criticism starts sounding like “Jewish money” secretly buying elections, that’s tapping into something much older, and darker. We’ve seen where that road leads.

When George Soros became the right’s bogeyman, accused of controlling everything from immigration to protests, that conspiracy theory got people killed.

I don’t want to see Democrats build an AIPAC version of that. It’s anyone’s right to challenge AIPAC’s power. I certainly have concerns about their politics and practices. But it’s possible to do that without demonizing it.

If you want to talk about this the right way, the Nexus Project put together a guide on how to talk about pro-Israel money in politics. You can find it on their social media accounts. And they’ll include it in a pinned comment on this post. Thanks for listening.