You have probably noticed that your social media feed and television commercials are featuring a heavy rotation of ads for political candidates, each giving you millions of reasons why you should vote for them in the election coming up on June 2.
Local elections are increasingly drawing attention from national political organizations, and voters are asking more questions about where candidates receive financial support and political endorsements. Organizations connected to atrocities and genocide abroad, such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and J Street, have become part of political discussions in congressional, state, and municipal races across the United States.
This article is intended to provide L.A. voters with publicly available information on campaign donations, endorsements, and affiliations with pro-Israel PACs. The information in this report is available online for anyone to search; we have simply centralized everything we could find here.
We found financial contributions by AIPAC and J Street to politicians through the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website for candidates that these two lobbying groups endorsed.
The purpose of this report is not to tell voters who to vote for or support, but rather to promote transparency and informed participation in the voting process.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
Since 2023, social media and independent journalists have highlighted what Palestinians have been saying for decades, namely that Israel is illegally occupying their land and committing genocide. In addition, journalist Adam Johnson of The Intercept published an investigation this week detailing how the U.S. mainstream media was “crucial in helping Israel sell the Gaza genocide to the American public.” The report details how all major outlets used the same phrasing to cast Israel as the victim and justify the killing of Palestinians.
The Israeli government would not be able to continue its destruction of Palestine over the last few years and continue its colonization project without the full economic, political, and media-related backing of the U.S. government.
The U.S. provides approximately $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel.
It is the U.S. government that can stop the genocide in Palestine by cutting off all military aid to Israel.
In recent years, discussions about the role U.S. politicians play in the deaths of Palestinians have come to the forefront because people have continued to protest against the genocide while watching many of our elected officials sit on their hands and repeat the same phrase, “Israel has the right to defend itself,” while never saying that Palestinians have the right to defend themselves. Or don’t deserve to die.
As a result, some community organizations have begun tracking which candidates receive support from lobbying PACs connected to Israel.
VOTERS MAY WANT TO CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS:
- Does outside money influence local elections?
- Do endorsements from a foreign government align with the local issues they care about?
- What is the position of my candidate on the slaughter of thousands of innocent Gazans, including women and children?
THE AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE (AIPAC)
AIPAC is one of the most influential lobby groups in the U.S. It is the voice of the pro-Israel movement and self-proclaimed policeman of people's attitudes toward Judaism, Zionism, and Israel, which are regularly (and wrongly) claimed to be one and the same.
In 2024, AIPAC spent over $100 million on the election cycle to influence congressional races, mainly to support pro-Israel candidates and oppose any critics of Israel’s policies. The lobby group provided $53 million to 361 pro-Israel Democratic and Republican candidates. In addition, the Missouri 1st District race witnessed AIPAC spending over $8.6 million to out Cori Bush, and over $14.1 million in the New York 16th District against Jamaal Bowman.
As of March 2026, AIPAC and its affiliated super PAC, the United Democracy Project, have funneled between $28 million and $30 million directly to campaigns and through independent expenditures early in the 2026 election cycle.
California Congressman Jimmy Gomez was one of those politicians who accepted AIPAC money early in the race, as we reported on it back in November 2025, accepting $46,839.07, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing.
J STREET
J Street describes itself as the “political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans” organization. It is known for supporting candidates who advocate for a two-state solution and diplomatic approaches to the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” It is known as the “liberal Zionist” movement to fix the image of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Some candidates in this election are supported by both AIPAC and J Street.
