Aipac is costing the US dearly
JVL Introduction
The latest edition of The Beinart Notebook looks at the baleful influence of Aipac in US political life.
Peter Beinart makes one point in particular: the cost is not just the direct money that the US gives to Israel, however large the $3 billion annual figure might appear to be.
Since October it has soared exponentially and might even be around $20 billion since October 2023.
But even that isn’t the half of it!
It is the indirect cost of the power that AIPAC and pro-Israel groups play in American politics, and foreign policy more generally, that we need to focus on.
While cautioning against blaming Aipac for too much – it most definitely is not the motor behind the US policy of strangling Cuba for example – its influence is all too clear in the war on Iran, which Netanyahu and the Israel lobby have been willing into existence for over a decade and more, the cost of which is currently put at a staggering $70 billion.
This article was originally published by The Beinart Notebook on Mon 24 Aug 2026. Read the original here.
The full cost of AIPAC’s influence
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Remember Obama’s AIPAC address with his blah blah ‘commitment to iron clad security for Israel?’
It is an insidious influence within US policies and decisions. Imagine that a foreign lobby that has that much influence. It shows how little integrity many senators have to take funds from AIPAC.
People you may not normally agree with like Tucker Carlson, Candice Owens have all called it with Candice calling it a ‘zionist lobby’ Ouch.
https://www.trackaipac.com/shame