AIPAC attacks Democrats who voted to stop arms sales to Israel
In new ad blitz, the pro-Israel lobbying group is targeting members in 11 states after a failed Senate effort to block U.S. weapons sales
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) (left) on Nov. 19, 2024. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh April 8, 2025
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group often criticized for targeting critics of the Jewish state, has launched a six-figure ad campaign against lawmakers who supported Senate resolutions aimed at halting arms sales to Israel.
The 30-second digital ads — running on streaming sites and social media — will air in the 11 states where senators voted in favor of measures introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, which sought to block $8.8 billion in offensive bombs and other munitions The measures were defeated by an overwhelming majority, with only 15 Democrats supporting them.
An AIPAC spokesperson declined to say whether the ads are part of a larger strategy to target senators vulnerable to primary or general election challenges.
“Bernie Sanders is jeopardizing the safety and security of the Jewish state as it fights a seven-front war against Iran and Iranian-backed terrorists,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittman said in an email. “These ads will educate constituents of the senators who voted with Bernie Sanders to undermine America’s partnership with our democratic ally.”
“Experts say votes like these are counterproductive and will prolong wars,” the narrator says in one of the ads targeting Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, accusing him of voting to “weaken” Israel. The ad, first reported by Politico, also cites a recent Gallup poll stating that “94% of Democrats say it’s important to help defend our allies,” though the survey question asked whether the U.S. should take some role in world affairs.
A few years ago, a vote for even modest restrictions on arms sales to Israel would have been unthinkable.
This vote — similar to failed resolutions last November supported by some liberal Jewish organizations — signaled a growing willingness among Democrats, amid the war in Gaza, to challenge the historically bipartisan consensus on unconditional support for Israel.
Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, whose support for some of the restrictions in November prompted Democratic donors and Jewish leaders in his state to encourage a Republican challenge in 2026, voted against Sanders’ resolutions.
AIPAC’s influence in Washington
While the Israeli government deals directly with American administrations, it has traditionally relied on AIPAC for galvanizing support for Israel and lobbying Congress on key issues.
The organization has often been described as “powerful” by its critics, in part by instructing its 4 million members to make political donations to candidates based solely on their Israel voting record.
But most American Jews vote for Democrats, and AIPAC has been criticized for backing the Israeli government’s right-wing policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for engaging in an aggressive campaign — led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — against the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. AIPAC spent nearly $30 million to try to defeat the deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama, only to see the Senate approve it. The group also came under fire in recent years for featuring digital ads that defamed progressive members of Congress critical of Israel.
AIPAC has buoyed its reputation by rejecting Netanyahu’s election rhetoric and alliance with far-right extremists and focusing on bipartisan support for Israel.
In 2021, AIPAC launched political action committees to directly support congressional incumbents facing primary challenges for their pro-Israel stances and got involved in high-stakes races. Through an independent super PAC, the United Democracy Project, they spent at least $24 million in 2024 to oust Reps. Jammal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, two of the first House members to advocate for a ceasefire after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. AIPAC didn’t spend in races where the outcome was considered predictable.
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and a progressive firebrand, declared “war” against AIPAC in 2022 for intervening in the primaries against some of the members he supported.
Last March, AIPAC mobilized its members to press their senators and representatives for the swift passage of a bipartisan emergency funding bill for Israel without any conditions. Top Republicans conditioned their support on the inclusion of border enforcement measures and objected to linking the bill with aid for Ukraine and Taiwan. The aid bill passed in the Senate with overwhelming support, though 15 Republicans and two Democrats opposed it.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story implied that Israel had made AIPAC its conduit for galvanizing American Jews. AIPAC said that all decisions are made by its leadership and board of directors, not by outside entities.
