WASHINGTON – The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) announced on Thursday a major strategy shift that will include launching two political action committees (PACs), and directly funding candidate campaigns for the first time.
“Today we are launching two bipartisan political action committees – a federal PAC and a Super PAC-to make us more effective in fulfilling our mission in the current political environment,” Betsy Korn, AIPAC President, said in a statement.
The move was a dramatic shift for the bipartisan lobby that has long stayed away from directly supporting candidates to be able to balance relationships with both sides of the aisle. In recent years though, AIPAC has found itself more involved in the political fray, especially since the rise of the so-called "Squad" and the need to constantly confront overt anti-Israel sentiments on Capitol Hill and attacks against itself.
The lobby has also singled out Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who consistently obstructs assistance to Israel, although he frames that as being in Israel’s interest.
“Throughout AIPAC’s history, the Board of Directors has consistently adjusted our political strategy to ensure we could remain successful in an ever-changing Washington,” she said. “The D.C. political environment has been undergoing profound change. Hyper-partisanship, high congressional turnover, and the exponential growth in the cost of campaigns now dominate the landscape. As such, the Board has decided to introduce these two new tools.”
She added that the AIPAC PAC “will highlight and support current pro-Israel Democratic and Republican members of Congress, as well as candidates for Congress.” The announcement comes 11 months before the midterm elections that will decide the majority of the House and the Senate, with dozens of competitive races taking place.According to AIPAC officials, the PAC will be led by Marilyn Rosenthal and the Super- PAC by Rob Bassin.
“The creation of the PACS is part of several new initiatives that AIPAC has launched over the past couple of years including an increased social media presence, a digital initiative and a forthcoming AIPAC app,” the official said. “So far, the initiatives have significantly increased our membership to over 1.5 million members and growing.”
Marshall Wittmann, AIPAC’s spokesperson, said that “the creation of a PAC and a Super-PAC is an opportunity to significantly deepen and strengthen the involvement of the pro-Israel community in politics,” and that “the PACs will work in a bipartisan way.”
JTA contributed to this report.