The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC /ˈeɪpæk/ AY-pak) is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States.

[6] AIPAC was founded in 1954 by Isaiah L. Kenen, a lobbyist for the Israeli government,[7][8] partly to counter negative international reactions to Israel's Qibya massacre of Palestinian villagers that year.

[15] AIPAC's supporters claim its bipartisan nature can be seen at its yearly policy conference, which in 2016 included both major parties' nominees: Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

As a lobbyist, Kenen diverged from AZC's usual public relations efforts by trying to broaden support for Israel among traditionally non-Zionist groups.

The founding of the new organization was in part a response to the negative international reaction to the October 1953 Qibya massacre, in which Israeli troops under Ariel Sharon killed at least sixty-nine Palestinian villagers, two-thirds of them women and children.

[26] According to commentator M.J. Rosenberg, Kenen was "an old-fashioned liberal," who did not seek to win support by donating to campaigns or otherwise influencing elections, but was willing to "play with the hand that is dealt to us.

Whereas Kenen had come out of the Zionist movement, with early staff pulled from the longtime activists among the Jewish community, AIPAC had evolved into a prototypical Washington-based lobbying and consulting firm.

[30] AIPAC scored two major victories in the early 1980s that established its image among political candidates as an organization "not to be trifled with" and set the pace for "a staunchly pro-Israel" Congress over the next three decades.

[31] In 1982, activists affiliated with AIPAC in Skokie, Illinois, backed Richard J. Durbin to oust U.S. representative Paul Findley (R-Illinois), who had shown enthusiasm for PLO leader Yasir Arafat.

[32] In February 2019, freshman U.S. representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), one of the first two Muslim women (along with Rashida Tlaib) to serve in Congress, tweeted that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-California) support for Israel was "all about the Benjamins" (i.e. about money).

[34] Omar later apologized but also made another statement attacking "political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” The statements aroused anger among AIPAC supporters, but also vocal support among the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and "revived a fraught debate" in American politics over whether AIPAC has too much influence over American policy in the Middle East,[31] while highlighting the deterioration of some relationships between progressive Democrats and pro-Israel organizations.

[39] It has also been noted that, simple dollar value comparisons aside, AIPAC has "a somewhat unique model" that often begins donating early in careers of politicians with "long-term promise".

Pro-Israel interests have contributed $56.8 million in individual, group, and soft money donations to federal candidates and party committees since 1990, according to the non-partisan OpenSecrets.

Kohr stated that "American assistance to Israel serves vital U.S. national security interests and advances critical U.S. foreign policy goals."

[13] AIPAC's official position on Iran is to encourage a strong diplomatic and economic response coordinated among the United States government, its European allies, Russia, and China.

"[61] The New York Times has described AIPAC as "a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle East"[62] that is able to push numerous bills through Congress.

[69] For the first time in AIPAC's history, the general sessions of Policy Conference were held in Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center in order to accommodate the large number of delegates.

[90] They traveled to Israel and the West Bank and visited with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

[93] Critics alleges that these trips are propaganda rather than education and do not tell the Palestinian "side of the story,"[94] and that they violate ethics rules prohibiting lobbying groups from gifting personal travel to congresspersons.

Lee has supported setting conditions for US aid to Israel and accused the country of atrocities in Gaza, comparing Israeli actions to the treatment of young black men in the U.S.[40] The UDP also spent $2m in a North Carolina senate primary to support the incumbent Valeria Foushee against Nida Allam, the first Muslim American woman to hold elected office in North Carolina and the political director for the 2016 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders.

[102][103] The UDP spent a further $1.2m to help the Democratic congressman for Texas, Henry Cuellar, face off a challenge from Jessica Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration lawyer also endorsed by the Squad.

[40] After Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Israel of imposing apartheid, Cuellar said "[t]hese inaccuracies incite antisemitic behavior" and decried what he called "dangerous effects of falsified name-calling.

[107] J Street spokesperson Logan Bayroff, has called AIPAC "a Republican front organisation", a fact that he said they are obfuscating while "trying to persuade Democratic voters who they should support".

[110][111] One critic, former congressman Brian Baird, who "had admired Israel since I was a kid," but became alienated from AIPAC, argued that "When key votes are cast, the question on the House floor, troublingly, is often not, 'What is the right thing to do for the United States of America?

[24] A PEW center poll found that only 38% of American Jews believe that the Israeli government is sincerely pursuing peace; 44% believe that the construction of new settlements damages Israel's national security.

In the working paper and resulting book, they accuse AIPAC of being "the most powerful and best known" component of a larger pro-Israel lobby that distorts American foreign policy.

"[127][128] Former Senator William Fulbright, in the 1970s, and former senior CIA official Victor Marchetti, in the 1980s, contended that AIPAC should have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

"[133] New York real estate developer Haim Katz told The Washington Times that he taped the conversation because "as someone Jewish, I am concerned when a small group has a disproportionate power.

[141][142][143] The endorsement of the politicians was described as "morally bankrupt and short-sighted" by Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, while Abe Foxman, former head of the Anti-Defamation League, called it a "sad mistake", and Dan Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, urged AIPAC to reconsider the move.

[146] It spent $7 million to defeat the favorite in a Maryland July primary, Donna Edwards, who had failed to back resolutions in support of Israel during its War in Gaza in 2012.