pro-Israel lobbyists and the millions of dollars they spend to influence US policy. They try and say any criticism of AIPAC and/or the RW Israeli government is by definition antisemitism. Same for BDS. It so cheapens any legit critiques of the actual real anti-Semites out there. She was attacked about saying they gave directly to candidates, which they do not, BUT they can give to dark-pools of money, which can work its way around and indirectly aid (or punish opponents of) the actual candidates and most certainly goes to lobbying on legislation..
Pro-Israel donors spent over $22m on lobbying and contributions in 2018
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/15/pro-israel-donors-spent-over-22m-on-lobbying-and-contributions-in-2018
Pro-Israel lobbyists and donors spent more than $22m on lobbying and campaign contributions during the 2018 election cycle. The same or similar Israel-aligned groups and donors have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent decades, and that money poured into American politics through a variety of channels, according to the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. The CRP uses federal election records to track campaign finance spending and makes its data available on the OpenSecrets site.
The Guardian examined campaign finance data after Muslim Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar ignited a controversy with two tweets claiming pro-Israel lobby money influenced American political policy and discourse. The claim led to broad accusations of antisemitism from Democrats and Republicans. Omar later apologized but also stood her ground when it came to highlighting the influence of lobbyists, comparing influential pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) to the the National Rifle Association and the fossil fuel industry.
The data examined by the Guardian suggests that the pro-Israel lobby is highly active and spends heavily to influence US policy, though at levels far below those of many big business sectors. “I haven’t observed many other countries that have a comparable level of activity, at least in domestic lobbying data,” said Dan Auble, a senior researcher at CRP. Omar incorrectly suggested Aipac makes campaign contributions to candidates. However, records show it did spend about $3.5m lobbying during the 2018 election cycle. In total, pro-Israel lobbying groups spent about $5m in 2018, the highest tally since tracking began in 1998.
Aipac spent the most of the lobbying groups, and is known for funding junket trips to Israel for freshman lawmakers and senators, as well as state legislators. Aipac also lobbied against the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 and supported the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the agreement.
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