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Selon un article par theguardian, 82% des membres du congrés Américains qui ont supporté l'opération génocidaire Israélienne à Gaza ont reçu des pots-de-vin de la part des donneurs pro sionistes comme AIPAC:
Revealed: Congress backers of Gaza war received most from pro-Israel donors
Guardian analysis finds top recipients of pro-Israel contributions in last elections were centrist Democrats who defeated progressives in primaries
Tom Perkins, with data reporting by Will CraftWed 10 Jan 2024 12.30 GMT
Congress members who were more supportive of Israel at the start of the Gaza war received over $100,000 more on average from pro-Israel donors during their last election than those who most supported Palestine, a Guardian analysis of campaign data shows.
Those who took more money most often called for US military support and backed Israel’s response, even as Gaza’s civilian death toll mounted, the findings show. The analysis, which looks at positions taken during the war’s first six weeks, does not prove any particular member changed their position because they received pro-Israel campaign donations. However, some campaign finance experts who viewed the data argue that donor spending helped fuel Congress’s overwhelming support for Israel.
The analysis compared campaign contributions from pro-Israel groups and individuals to almost every member of the current Congress with each lawmaker’s statements on the war through mid-November.
About 82% of Congress members were more supportive of Israel, and just 9% more supportive of Palestine during this period. The remainder had “mixed” views. Legislators categorized as supportive of Israel received about $125,000 on average during their last election, while those supportive of Palestine on average took about $18,000.
The volume and breadth of the donors’ spending is considerable: over $58m went to current Congress members, and all but 33 received donations.
The findings have “profound implications for what American policy toward … Israel looks like”, said John Mearsheimer, a University of Chicago political scientist and co-author of the 2006 book The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. “If there was no lobby pushing Congress in a particular direction in a really forceful way, the position of the US Congress on the war in Gaza would be fundamentally different.”
The groups’ campaign contributions have varying goals depending on the member. Spending can be “defensive” or “shore up support” in Congress for allies who already share pro-Israel groups’ views, said Sarah Bryner, a spokesperson for Open Secrets, which tracks campaign finance spending and collected the contributions data used in the Guardian’s analysis. Spending can also be “offensive”, or intended to persuade a lawmaker to take a pro-Israel position, campaign finance observers and political strategists who reviewed the data said.
The donors’ highest profile battles have involved members of the “The Squad”, like Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who are among the most critical of Israel. But statements from Representatives Don Bacon, Dan Kildee and André Carson in the wake of the 7 October attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed help illustrate varying levels of donations and responses across Congress.
All three first strongly condemned the assault’s perpetrators and expressed deep sympathy for the victims, but their messaging quickly diverged.
Bacon, who received about $250,000, offered full-throated support for Israel: “Whatever Israel wants … we should be there to help.”
Carson, who received $3,000, took aim at Israel, denouncing its “unfair, two-tiered rule over the Palestinian people” and demanded a ceasefire.
Kildee, who received $91,000, fell somewhere in between, underscoring “Israel’s security and its right to respond” and his ”grave concern” over its airstrikes killing thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Included in the analysis are33 pro-Israel groups and a number of individualsthat work to shore up US political support, secure military assistance and steer national dialogue. Its prominent campaign finance players include the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), Democratic Majority For Israel (DMFI), and J Street.
The donors are not ideologically monolithic. J Street, which calls itself “pro-Israel and pro-peace” and is considered among the most liberal Pacs, only gave to Democrats, and in some cases backed progressive candidates targeted by more conservative Pacs, like Aipac or DMFI. While donors across the spectrum have pressured lawmakers to support Israel following 7 October, J Street has been among the only group to raise concern about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and express support for conditioning aid to Israel.
The groups are a powerful force in US politics that draw comparisons to the National Rifle Association (NRA) at the peak of its power, and spent more on the 2022 Congress than other special interests, such as the oil and gas industry.
The former president Barack Obama, in his 2020 memoir, detailed the threat Aipac presents to Israel’s critics, who risked “being tagged as ‘anti-Israel’ (and possibly anti-Semitic) and confronted with a well-funded opponent in the next election”, he wrote.
In a statement to the Guardian, an Aipac spokesperson, Marshall Wittmann, said the group is “proud of our engagement in the democratic process – as is our right as Americans – to advance the relationship between the US and Israel”.
The donors’ success rate is often high: DMFI-backed candidates won over 80% of their 2022 races, the group says. Pacs such as DMFI and Aipac’s United Democracy Project, which was launched during the 2022 cycle, have focused attacks on progressive candidates.
The top six recipients of pro-Israel donor support in 2022 were centrist Democrats who defeated progressives in primaries and collectively accounted for around $25m, or about 42% of the donors’ spending.
What we found
To determine whether lawmakers were supportive of Israel, Palestine or had a mixed response, the Guardian examined officials’ media statements, X accounts and letters to Joe Biden from 7 October through mid-November.
Revealed: Congress backers of Gaza war received most from pro-Israel donors
Guardian analysis finds top recipients of pro-Israel contributions in last elections were centrist Democrats who defeated progressives in primaries
Tom Perkins, with data reporting by Will CraftWed 10 Jan 2024 12.30 GMT
Congress members who were more supportive of Israel at the start of the Gaza war received over $100,000 more on average from pro-Israel donors during their last election than those who most supported Palestine, a Guardian analysis of campaign data shows.
Those who took more money most often called for US military support and backed Israel’s response, even as Gaza’s civilian death toll mounted, the findings show. The analysis, which looks at positions taken during the war’s first six weeks, does not prove any particular member changed their position because they received pro-Israel campaign donations. However, some campaign finance experts who viewed the data argue that donor spending helped fuel Congress’s overwhelming support for Israel.
The analysis compared campaign contributions from pro-Israel groups and individuals to almost every member of the current Congress with each lawmaker’s statements on the war through mid-November.
About 82% of Congress members were more supportive of Israel, and just 9% more supportive of Palestine during this period. The remainder had “mixed” views. Legislators categorized as supportive of Israel received about $125,000 on average during their last election, while those supportive of Palestine on average took about $18,000.
The volume and breadth of the donors’ spending is considerable: over $58m went to current Congress members, and all but 33 received donations.
The findings have “profound implications for what American policy toward … Israel looks like”, said John Mearsheimer, a University of Chicago political scientist and co-author of the 2006 book The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. “If there was no lobby pushing Congress in a particular direction in a really forceful way, the position of the US Congress on the war in Gaza would be fundamentally different.”
The groups’ campaign contributions have varying goals depending on the member. Spending can be “defensive” or “shore up support” in Congress for allies who already share pro-Israel groups’ views, said Sarah Bryner, a spokesperson for Open Secrets, which tracks campaign finance spending and collected the contributions data used in the Guardian’s analysis. Spending can also be “offensive”, or intended to persuade a lawmaker to take a pro-Israel position, campaign finance observers and political strategists who reviewed the data said.
The donors’ highest profile battles have involved members of the “The Squad”, like Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who are among the most critical of Israel. But statements from Representatives Don Bacon, Dan Kildee and André Carson in the wake of the 7 October attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed help illustrate varying levels of donations and responses across Congress.
All three first strongly condemned the assault’s perpetrators and expressed deep sympathy for the victims, but their messaging quickly diverged.
Bacon, who received about $250,000, offered full-throated support for Israel: “Whatever Israel wants … we should be there to help.”
Carson, who received $3,000, took aim at Israel, denouncing its “unfair, two-tiered rule over the Palestinian people” and demanded a ceasefire.
Kildee, who received $91,000, fell somewhere in between, underscoring “Israel’s security and its right to respond” and his ”grave concern” over its airstrikes killing thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Included in the analysis are33 pro-Israel groups and a number of individualsthat work to shore up US political support, secure military assistance and steer national dialogue. Its prominent campaign finance players include the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), Democratic Majority For Israel (DMFI), and J Street.
The donors are not ideologically monolithic. J Street, which calls itself “pro-Israel and pro-peace” and is considered among the most liberal Pacs, only gave to Democrats, and in some cases backed progressive candidates targeted by more conservative Pacs, like Aipac or DMFI. While donors across the spectrum have pressured lawmakers to support Israel following 7 October, J Street has been among the only group to raise concern about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and express support for conditioning aid to Israel.
The groups are a powerful force in US politics that draw comparisons to the National Rifle Association (NRA) at the peak of its power, and spent more on the 2022 Congress than other special interests, such as the oil and gas industry.
The former president Barack Obama, in his 2020 memoir, detailed the threat Aipac presents to Israel’s critics, who risked “being tagged as ‘anti-Israel’ (and possibly anti-Semitic) and confronted with a well-funded opponent in the next election”, he wrote.
In a statement to the Guardian, an Aipac spokesperson, Marshall Wittmann, said the group is “proud of our engagement in the democratic process – as is our right as Americans – to advance the relationship between the US and Israel”.
The donors’ success rate is often high: DMFI-backed candidates won over 80% of their 2022 races, the group says. Pacs such as DMFI and Aipac’s United Democracy Project, which was launched during the 2022 cycle, have focused attacks on progressive candidates.
The top six recipients of pro-Israel donor support in 2022 were centrist Democrats who defeated progressives in primaries and collectively accounted for around $25m, or about 42% of the donors’ spending.
What we found
To determine whether lawmakers were supportive of Israel, Palestine or had a mixed response, the Guardian examined officials’ media statements, X accounts and letters to Joe Biden from 7 October through mid-November.
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