WASHINGTON, DC – J Street, the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans, today expressed alarm and concern that AIPAC’s new PAC has endorsed over 35 congressional candidates who egregiously undermined American democracy by voting against the certification of presidential results after insurrectionists stormed the US Capitol on January 6th.
J Street has repeatedly urged all pro-Israel PACs to take a “Democracy Pledge” to never support such anti-democratic candidates. Yet AIPAC has now announced their intention to funnel millions of dollars to these dangerous politicians.
“AIPAC’s support for these candidates endangers American democracy and undermines the true interests and values of millions of American Jews and pro-Israel Americans who they often claim to represent,” said Laura Birnbaum, J Street’s National Political Director. “Whatever their views on Israel, elected officials who threaten the very future of our country should be completely beyond the pale. We call on AIPAC to immediately end their support for these candidates – or explain what could possibly justify supporting those who effectively sided with the insurrectionists on January 6th.”
Astoundingly, more than half of the Republican candidates newly endorsed by AIPAC voted against the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Among these endorsees are elected officials who have repeatedly sought to obstruct and deter serious scrutiny, investigation and justice for the events of January 6th and the overall attempt to overturn and subvert the results of the election.
Claims of “bipartisanship” cannot excuse support for candidates who only respect election results when their party wins. Former AIPAC executive director Tom Dine has publicly said that if AIPAC contributes “to antidemocratic people who believe the last election was a fraud and they support the January 6 insurrection – no sir, I would not give them a dime.”
J Street is pleased that the Jewish Democratic Council of America and Democratic Majority For Israel have already publicly taken the Democracy Pledge. AIPAC’s eager support for candidates who subvert our democracy runs completely counter to the views and values held by the vast majority of American Jews and pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans.
A full list of the AIPAC PAC endorsees who voted against the certification of the 2020 election results on January 6th can be found here.
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Contact: Logan Bayroff, [email protected]