Hasbara's Sway Over Trump Admin.
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The Democrats Too Kowtow To Hasbara
Top Democrats Smear Palestinian-American Politician for Criticizing Zionism
Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul, whose family was displaced by Israel, wrote about the ‘evils’ of Zionism, prompting a flurry of attacks from Tim Kaine, Abigail Spanberger, and other party colleagues.
Prem Thakker
Aug 08, 2025
Sam Rasoul of the Virginia House of Delegates speaks during a rally on the National Mall on May 31, 2021. Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images
A Palestinian-American politician in Virginia, whose family members have lost their homes to Israeli expansionism and colonialism, is being attacked by fellow Democrats for criticizing Zionism.
In late July, as global outrage in response to Israel’s mass starvation campaign in Gaza reached new heights, Virginia state Delegate Sam Rasoul posted a picture of award-winning Palestinian writer Omar El Akkad’s book One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, on Instagram and wrote:
Rasoul, one of three Muslim members of the Virginia General Assembly, is the son of Palestinian immigrants who moved to the US around 1970. Many of Rasoul’s family members were displaced during the 1967 war, and some continue to face land seizures today.
It’s because of that reality, and what’s happening in Gaza, that Rasoul posted his late July message.
“The reality of the court of public opinion is clear that there is a genocide happening in Gaza, and even with the Israeli human rights organizations coming out and J Street now calling it a genocide,” Rasoul told Zeteo.
But earlier this week, Jewish Insider wrote about Rasoul’s Instagram post, prompting a vicious backlash from pro-Israel Jewish groups and members of his own party.
Former Virginia Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn accused Rasoul of “fueling one of the oldest forms of hatred in the world, repackaged in the language of activism.”
Former Virginia Rep. and current gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger said in a statement that the “horrors” of the war, on both sides, “rightly compel so many to advocate for the mass delivery of aid, the release of all Israeli hostages, and a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel,” but that “one can and must denounce these tragedies without using antisemitic language, whether intentional or not.”
Tim Kaine, one of Virginia’s two Democratic senators, declared: “I forcefully reject any claim that Zionism — the desire of Jewish people to have a state of Israel — is inherently racist or evil.”
He added: “Many Zionists in Israel, America and throughout the world are deeply concerned by the suffering of innocent Palestinians.”
In fact, a poll this week found that 79% of Israeli Jews were “not so troubled” or “not troubled at all” by the famine conditions in Gaza.
Nevertheless, officials like Virginia state Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg applauded Kaine’s statement. VanValkenburg called it “exactly right,” adding that the “current Israeli government deserves condemnation for its actions in Gaza. But the claim that Zionism is inherently evil deserves to be forcefully rejected.”
The Washington, DC, chapter of the Anti-Defamation League accused Rasoul of “using antisemitic rhetoric,” while ADL president Jonathan Greenblatt chimed in to accuse Rasoul of “Holocaust minimization” and say that the “extreme demonization of Zionism as a unique evil is downright dangerous.”
The Jewish Democratic Council of America wrote on social media that “Zionism represents the right of Jewish people to self-determination in our ancestral homeland,” adding that the “hate expressed by Del. Sam Rasoul doesn't belong in the Democratic Party.”
The backlash came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intentions to seize and control all of Gaza and the Israeli security cabinet approved plans for its military to take over Gaza City.
‘Criticizing Genocide Is Not Antisemitic’
Rasoul met the criticism from his Democratic colleagues by grounding his July comments in ongoing events. “Right now, as we speak, they are busy stealing large swaths of land in my father's town,” Rasoul told Zeteo, referring to Al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank. “And to watch what this has produced, where nearly 80% of people in Israel believe that there's not much of a problem with what's happening in Gaza? You know, we have an important conversation to have as a society about how we got here.”
Rasoul also pushed back on the conflation of his criticism of Israel with antisemitism. “These genocide deniers and apologists for the State of Israel, have nothing else but to claim everything is antisemitic,” Rasoul said. “The reality is that my Jewish friends are less safe because they've bastardized antisemitism. And prevented us from really being able to take on truly antisemitic behavior, because criticizing a genocide is not antisemitic,” he added.
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“And that philosophy, as we know, is Zionist: it is not the aspirational belief that there should be a safe place for a homeland for Jews. It is the manifestation of an ethno-supremacist state that has produced not only this occupation, but an apartheid regime that now has committed the ultimate act of terror, which is a genocide on the people of Gaza.”
Zeteo reached out to the offices of Kaine and Spanberger to ask whether they believe anti-Zionism is antisemitism. Zeteo also requested their response to Rasoul and many other Palestinians’ view that Zionism does not solely represent the desire for Jewish people to have a safe homeland but has, in practice, resulted in the displacement of the Palestinian people, as well as occupation and apartheid.
Zeteo also asked whether these two officials believe that what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide, or what they view as the difference between Zionism and the policies of the current Israeli government.
Kaine’s office was the only one to respond, with a spokesperson telling Zeteo:
Rasoul called the attacks against him on social media “ludicrous,” but said they pale in comparison to “the horrors that my brothers and sisters are going through.”
“It’s par for the course for people who are genocide deniers, who are holding on to a philosophy that produced this evil,” he said.
“I often feel so helpless," Rasoul told Zeteo, saying the least one can do is tell the truth and have a conversation about how a society, in 2025, has been able to "stomach the live-streaming of a genocide."
Now, Rasoul concluded, "is the time for us to have an honest conversation about how we got here and how we actually say ‘never again.’”
Once Israel admits they will never allow a Palestinian state it becomes a fight for equal rights.Seymour Hersh
1
IS ISRAEL ON THE VERGE OF ANNEXATION?
Religious extremists may force Netanyahu's hand in Gaza
Seymour Hersh
Aug 01, 2025
∙ Paid
On Wednesday in southern Israel, an explosion is seen over the Gaza Strip as right-wing Israeli activists march during a rally calling to resettle the north of Gaza. / Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images.
As the world recoils from the stark photos of the starving Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s religious far right is increasingly insisting in public that the fate of the at least twenty hostages still believed to be alive can no longer delay Israel’s annexation of parts of Gaza that its settlers controlled until 2005. The war of revenge that was started in part to save the then hundreds of hostages captive in Gaza is no longer of interest to the very devout in Israel.
In desperate need for the political support of the religious right, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently sent a high-level team to Washington seeking US approval for what I have been told is a take-it-or-leave-it approach to the leadership of Hamas. Their demands include Hamas’s surrender as well as the release of all living hostages and the bodies of the dead within weeks or Israel will begin unilaterally annexing parts of Gaza.
Israel will lose the demographic battle.
Even killing 400,000 Palestinians won't stop it.
Hasbara In The U.K.
Revealed: The Tzipi Hotovely diary
Declassified obtained the Israeli ambassador’s schedule, exposing how an array of pro-Israel lobbyists, Labour party donors and businessmen frequent her embassy in London.
JOHN McEVOY and Alex Morris
12 August 2025
The Israeli ambassador in London, Tzipi Hotovely, has spent almost two years inciting genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
She suggested last year that “every school, every mosque, every second house” in Gaza had access to underground tunnels and was therefore a legitimate target for Israel.
“That’s an argument for destroying the whole of Gaza, every single building there”, said LBC presenter Iain Dale. “Do you have another solution?”, she responded.
Hotovely’s “solution” has left 92 percent of all residential buildings in Gaza – around 436,000 homes – damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
She has also claimed that Hamas bases “all [of its] headquarters” in Gaza’s hospitals, a narrative used by Israel to devastate the strip’s healthcare system.
Declassified has now obtained Hotovely’s diary, which offers unprecedented details about who the hard right ambassador has been meeting in private.
The information comes from a Freedom of Information request issued by lawyer Elad Man at Hatzlacha NGO in Israel.
It exposes how an array of pro-Israel lobbyists, Labour donors, businessmen, and Lords have been frequenting Hotovely’s embassy amid the Gaza genocide.
Pro-Israel lobby
Hotovely’s diary indicates a close working relationship between pro-Israel lobby organisations in Britain and the Israeli embassy in London.
While the Conservative and Labour Friends of Israel (CFI and LFI) groups claim not to be funded by Tel Aviv, they certainly liaise regularly with its ambassador in London.
Hotovely met four times with Stuart Polak, a director and honorary president of CFI who once described being made a member of the House of Lords as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to advocate for Israel.
The pair were joined by seasoned Israeli diplomats Yossi Amrani and Meirav Eilon Shahar in July and September 2024, respectively.
Amrani is currently the head of the Israeli foreign ministry’s diplomatic division, and was until recently its ambassador to Greece. Shahar is Israel’s deputy director for strategic affairs in the foreign ministry, formerly working as its ambassador at the UN.
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The Israeli ambassador also met with figures associated with LFI on four occasions, including Michael Rubin, Jon Pearce MP, and Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn.
Rubin, the director of LFI, was secretly filmed in a 2017 Al Jazeera documentary saying the lobby group and the Israeli embassy “work really closely together, but a lot of it is behind the scenes”.
He appears twice in Hotovely’s diary, with one of the meetings taking place at the ambassador’s residence in London.
Pearce has been LFI chair since September 2024, while Mendelsohn is a former chair and funder of the group.
An LFI spokesperson told Declassified that Pearce and Rubin met with the ambassador “to reiterate our longstanding support for a ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas since the 7 October atrocities”.
Also included in Hotovely’s diary is Luke Akehurst, the MP for Durham North and former director of another prominent pro-Israel lobby group, We Believe in Israel. The pair met on the sidelines of the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
Labour donors
Hotovely has also been meeting with Labour donors amid the Gaza genocide, raising concerns about the proximity of the party’s funders to the Israeli government.
Stuart Roden, a chairman of Israeli venture capital firm Hetz Ventures, donated over half a million pounds to the Labour party ahead of the 2024 general election. He has since become a major funder of the thinktank Labour Together.
Roden appears twice in Hotovely’s diary, with both meetings taking place in July 2024, shortly after Keir Starmer’s government came to power.
The first rendezvous was at a gallery in London, while the second was held in Hotovely’s residence.
Roden told the Spectator in October 2023 that the IDF would “do everything in its power, as it always has done, to avoid civilian casualties”, arguing that Israel was engaged in a “clash of civilisations” where one side respects civilian life and the other does not.
By this time, the death toll in Gaza had risen to over 1,500 people.
He was also filmed shouting at peaceful pro-Palestine protesters outside the Labour party conference the same month. “You murdered children” he screamed at the crowd, which included elderly women, telling journalists the demonstration should be banned.
“Behind the scenes, Roden has an informal dialogue with the [Labour] party leadership”, the Financial Times reported last year. Roden said: “I express views on some of the things I care about”.
Hotovely also met with Jonathan Goldstein at the embassy residence in London.
Goldstein is a property tycoon who backed David Lammy’s campaign to become London mayor in 2014 and donated football tickets to Starmer in 2022, personally accompanying him to the game.
A former chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, Goldstein has attended pro-Israel marches in London and travelled to Tel Aviv to discuss “cooperation” with its minster of strategic affairs, Gilad Erdan.
Roden and Goldstein were approached for comment.
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Businessmen
In November 2023, shortly after the Israeli government had imposed a total siege on Gaza, Hotovely met privately with Michael Denison, the head of international advisory at British oil giant BP.
It is unclear what Hotovely discussed with Denison, whose role involves “political risk management” and developing “relationships with UK FCDO [Foreign Office] and foreign diplomatic missions in London”.
Days before the meeting, however, Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure had announced the award of new licences to six energy companies for offshore natural gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
One of the bids was won by a joint consortium of BP, Azeri national oil company SOCAR, and Israeli corporation NewMed Energy.
Though the bids had been made earlier in the year, the timing of the announcement was designed to build investor confidence in Israel amid its escalating war on Gaza.
“Even now, major natural gas exploration companies put their trust in Israel’s robustness and want to invest here”, Israel’s energy minister Israel Katz declared.
BP has continued to work with the Israeli government amid the devastation of Gaza.
The company was criticised by UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese in her recent report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide”, which focusses on the complicity of private companies in the genocide.
“BP is expanding involvement in the Israeli economy, with exploration licences confirmed in March 2025, which allow BP to explore Palestinian maritime expanses illegally exploited by Israel”, wrote Albanese.
Hotovely also met in London with representatives from Rafael UK, an Israeli state-owned arms firm which manufactures missiles for urban warfare.
BP did not respond to a request for comment.
Lords
A series of members of the House of Lords have also met with Hotovely during the Gaza genocide.
Lord Browne, the former CEO of BP and current chairman of Israeli logistics firm Windward, met with the ambassador in late October 2023.
Weeks later, Hotovely was joined for breakfast by Lord Feldman, the former Tory party chairman who is now executive partner at Israeli venture capital firm, Hetz, alongside Roden.
In July 2024, Lord Andrew Roberts visited Hotovely’s residence in London for breakfast. He would go on to publish a report about 7 October which was funded by Cedars Oak, a consultancy firm owned by Polak and Mendelsohn.
In September, Hotovely also brunched at the residence with Lord Kestenbaum, formerly on the board of directors of pro-Israel lobby group BICOM.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John McEvoy is Chief Reporter for Declassified UK. John is an historian and filmmaker whose work focuses on British foreign policy and Latin America. His PhD was on Britain’s Secret Wars in Colombia between 1948 and 2009, and he is currently working on a documentary about Britain’s role in the rise of Augusto Pinochet.
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Alexander Morris is a video journalist and filmmaker based in London, UK. He has made hard-hitting documentaries and video reportage around the world, including conflict zones like Afghanistan, and was previously a video journalist at the Middle East Monitor. His documentary about Rio gang members enforcing Covid restrictions, Favela Lockdown, won ‘best documentary’ and ‘best news and politics video’ at the 2020 Lovie Awards. Other topics of his reporting including the rise of Hindu-extremism in India in 2019, Britain’s racist border policies and the Windrush generation in 2021, and the historic genocide trial against Israel in The Hague in 2024.
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E3, Tres Amigos, Also Under The Hasbara Thumb.
They were signatories to the JCPOA but did nothing fuck all to uphold their side of the deal when Trump walked away. Indeed they bent over and let themselves be reamed with tariffs & sanctions. Now they are back threatening sanctions on Iran. Such gall! And what for!
France, Germany, and the UK Say They’re Ready To Re-Impose ‘Snapback’ Sanctions on Iran
by Dave DeCamp | August 13, 2025 at 3:34 pm ET | Iran
France, Germany, and the UK have told the UN that they’re ready to impose “snapback” sanctions on Iran over the lack of diplomatic progress regarding Iran’s nuclear program in the wake of the 12-day US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
“We have made it clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” the three European nations said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, signatories can re-impose so-called snapback sanctions that were lifted by the UN Security Council when the deal was signed. Iran argues that the signatories don’t have the right to re-impose the sanctions since the US was the party that violated the agreement and withdrew from it in 2018.
According to Reuters, France, Germany, and the UK had offered Iran an extension in the deadline if it agreed to hold direct negotiations with the US, but Tehran hasn’t replied. However, Iranian officials have been clear that they need assurances from the US that they wouldn’t be attacked during future negotiations, and President Trump has been threatening to bomb the country again if it resumes its nuclear enrichment program.
The US and Israel used the cover of US-Iran nuclear talks to launch the 12-Day War, which began with heavy Israeli airstrikes on June 13, two days before Washington and Tehran were set to hold their next round of negotiations. Israel launched the war under the pretext of preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon, but US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) both said they had no evidence that Tehran was seeking a bomb.
In response to the war and what Iran saw as the IAEA’s role in starting it, Tehran has suspended cooperation with the nuclear watchdog, though it is still engaged in talks with the IAEA. The day before Israel launched the war, the IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution claiming Iran was no longer living up to its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a claim made mainly based on nuclear activity that allegedly took place decades ago.
Iranian officials have warned that if snapback sanctions are re-imposed, Tehran may withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a step that could be used by Israel and the US as a pretext to launch another war.
Amid the focus on its civilian nuclear program, Iranian officials have frequently pointed to the fact that Israel has a secret nuclear weapons program and a stockpile of nuclear warheads and is not a signatory to the NPT. Israel’s nuclear weapons are rarely discussed since they are not officially recognized by the US or Israel.
They were signatories to the JCPOA but did nothing fuck all to uphold their side of the deal when Trump walked away. Indeed they bent over and let themselves be reamed with tariffs & sanctions. Now they are back threatening sanctions on Iran. Such gall! And what for!
France, Germany, and the UK Say They’re Ready To Re-Impose ‘Snapback’ Sanctions on Iran
by Dave DeCamp | August 13, 2025 at 3:34 pm ET | Iran
France, Germany, and the UK have told the UN that they’re ready to impose “snapback” sanctions on Iran over the lack of diplomatic progress regarding Iran’s nuclear program in the wake of the 12-day US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
“We have made it clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” the three European nations said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, signatories can re-impose so-called snapback sanctions that were lifted by the UN Security Council when the deal was signed. Iran argues that the signatories don’t have the right to re-impose the sanctions since the US was the party that violated the agreement and withdrew from it in 2018.
According to Reuters, France, Germany, and the UK had offered Iran an extension in the deadline if it agreed to hold direct negotiations with the US, but Tehran hasn’t replied. However, Iranian officials have been clear that they need assurances from the US that they wouldn’t be attacked during future negotiations, and President Trump has been threatening to bomb the country again if it resumes its nuclear enrichment program.
The US and Israel used the cover of US-Iran nuclear talks to launch the 12-Day War, which began with heavy Israeli airstrikes on June 13, two days before Washington and Tehran were set to hold their next round of negotiations. Israel launched the war under the pretext of preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon, but US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) both said they had no evidence that Tehran was seeking a bomb.
In response to the war and what Iran saw as the IAEA’s role in starting it, Tehran has suspended cooperation with the nuclear watchdog, though it is still engaged in talks with the IAEA. The day before Israel launched the war, the IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution claiming Iran was no longer living up to its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a claim made mainly based on nuclear activity that allegedly took place decades ago.
Iranian officials have warned that if snapback sanctions are re-imposed, Tehran may withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a step that could be used by Israel and the US as a pretext to launch another war.
Amid the focus on its civilian nuclear program, Iranian officials have frequently pointed to the fact that Israel has a secret nuclear weapons program and a stockpile of nuclear warheads and is not a signatory to the NPT. Israel’s nuclear weapons are rarely discussed since they are not officially recognized by the US or Israel.
The combo of hasbara propaganda and killing all journalists isn't stopping the news getting out.
Some Democrats Refusing AIPAC Money
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Facing Voter Pressure, Swing-State Democrat Swears Off AIPAC Cash
Rep. Deborah Ross became the latest Democrat to swear off AIPAC amid pressure to hold Israel accountable for its genocide in Gaza.
Jonah Valdez
August 29 2025, 6:30 a.m.
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Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., at a news conference held by House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Democrats in Washington, D.C. on June 3, 2024. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross of North Carolina has pledged that she will not accept contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee during the 2026 midterm election cycle — after receiving more than $100,000 from the conservative pro-Israel lobby group in past elections, Ross’s office confirmed to The Intercept.
Ross, a moderate member of the House of Representatives, is the latest lawmaker to swear off the lobby amid sustained pressure and protest from voters who oppose Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Her pledge closely follows that of fellow North Carolina Democrat Rep. Valerie Foushee, who vowed not to take money from AIPAC. Foushee was among AIPAC’s biggest recipients, having taken more than $800,000 in direct giving from AIPAC and individual donations it bundled.
“Congresswoman Ross is not currently accepting AIPAC contributions,” said a spokesperson for Ross’s office in a statement to The Intercept. She further clarified that the pledge covers AIPAC contributions throughout the 2026 cycle.
Anti-genocide organizers viewed Ross and Foushee’s anti-AIPAC pledges as evidence of a sea change within the Democratic Party.
“It is always good to hear someone is willing to have the courage of their convictions and not support organizations that they believe do not fully represent the interests of the U.S.” said Dr. Paul McAllister, a reverend and chair of the Interfaith Caucus of the North Carolina Democratic Party who has been organizing to oppose Israel’s assault on Gaza. “AIPAC uses the muscle of their resources to oust anyone who disagrees with them regarding Israel, the conduct of Israel and the atrocities that may be committed by the government of Israel — so it is good that Deborah Ross is willing to recognize and acknowledge that.”
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Ross was first elected to the House in 2020 and began taking AIPAC money in 2022. She received $41,900 from AIPAC in that cycle and an additional $97,876 for her 2024 campaign, according to campaign finance records.
Her pledge comes at a time when Democratic politics in North Carolina have been divided around the issue of Israel and Palestine.
In late June, the North Carolina Democratic Party passed a resolution calling for a complete arms embargo on all military aid to Israel until it ends its apartheid rule of Palestinians. The resolution won by a narrow margin — 161 to 151 — and withstood pushback from the state’s centrist Jewish Democrats who argued it would direct voters’ attention to the party’s foreign policy platform, while they wanted to focus on the economy.
McAllister and a broad coalition within the North Carolina Democratic Party — which includes the party’s Arab, African American, LGBTQ, interfaith, Muslim, and progressive caucuses; the Jewish Democrats; and the NC Association of Teen Democrats — supported the resolution.
McAllister was among five members of the coalition who met with members of Ross’s office on August 19, when her staff confirmed her anti-AIPAC pledge, McAllister told The Intercept. The group also urged her office to co-sponsor the Block the Bombs to Israel Act, a bill working its way through the House of Representatives that aims to end some weapons shipments to Israel.
RelatedEven Former AIPAC Democrats Are Signing On to Block Arms Sales to Israel
The bill, which had drawn 40 co-sponsors as of Thursday, would prohibit the Trump administration from providing Israel with specific U.S.-made weapons that the Israeli military has used in documented war crimes against Palestinians.
Ross’s spokesperson declined to comment on whether she would support the legislation.
IfNotNow, a Jewish-led progressive organization backing Block the Bombs and helping lead the Reject AIPAC coalition, praised Ross for rejecting the Israel lobby’s dollars and called on her to co-sponsor the bill.
“It’s great to see Rep. Ross join the growing number of Democrats who have previously welcomed AIPAC’s support and are now accepting the fact that aligning with right-wing billionaires only empowers fascists like Netanyahu and Trump,” said Lauren Maunus, the political director for IfNotNow. “Now, we look forward to her signing on to the Block the Bombs Act.”
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Foushee is co-sponsoring the bill, as are at least two other lawmakers who previously received AIPAC money: Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who received $46,000 from AIPAC in 2022, and Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., who took $15,000 in 2022 and 2024.
At least three other representatives who are also AIPAC recipients have made statements in support of blocking arms to Israel in recent weeks, but have yet to sign on to the Block the Bombs bill. That list now includes Oregon Democrats Maxine Dexter and Suzanne Bonamici and, most recently, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, a leading moderate Democrat in Congress and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Related“A Purely Manmade Famine”: How Israel Is Starving Gaza
On Tuesday, Smith said he supported blocking “the sale of some weapons now” to Israel to compel the country to enact a ceasefire, allow a flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and halt its expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Smith has received more than $700,000 in contributions from AIPAC since 2022, including $46,900 in 2025, finance records said.
After decades of lobbying on the Hill, AIPAC, which includes Republican billionaires within its donor stream, began directly funding congressional elections in 2021. It spent millions last cycle unseating Democrats who have been critical of Israel, most notably progressive former lawmakers Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri.
Its about time, hopefully there are more to follow.Some Democrats Refusing AIPAC Money
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Facing Voter Pressure, Swing-State Democrat Swears Off AIPAC Cash
Rep. Deborah Ross became the latest Democrat to swear off AIPAC amid pressure to hold Israel accountable for its genocide in Gaza.
Jonah Valdez
August 29 2025, 6:30 a.m.
Share
Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., at a news conference held by House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Democrats in Washington, D.C. on June 3, 2024. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross of North Carolina has pledged that she will not accept contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee during the 2026 midterm election cycle — after receiving more than $100,000 from the conservative pro-Israel lobby group in past elections, Ross’s office confirmed to The Intercept.
Ross, a moderate member of the House of Representatives, is the latest lawmaker to swear off the lobby amid sustained pressure and protest from voters who oppose Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Her pledge closely follows that of fellow North Carolina Democrat Rep. Valerie Foushee, who vowed not to take money from AIPAC. Foushee was among AIPAC’s biggest recipients, having taken more than $800,000 in direct giving from AIPAC and individual donations it bundled.
“Congresswoman Ross is not currently accepting AIPAC contributions,” said a spokesperson for Ross’s office in a statement to The Intercept. She further clarified that the pledge covers AIPAC contributions throughout the 2026 cycle.
Anti-genocide organizers viewed Ross and Foushee’s anti-AIPAC pledges as evidence of a sea change within the Democratic Party.
“It is always good to hear someone is willing to have the courage of their convictions and not support organizations that they believe do not fully represent the interests of the U.S.” said Dr. Paul McAllister, a reverend and chair of the Interfaith Caucus of the North Carolina Democratic Party who has been organizing to oppose Israel’s assault on Gaza. “AIPAC uses the muscle of their resources to oust anyone who disagrees with them regarding Israel, the conduct of Israel and the atrocities that may be committed by the government of Israel — so it is good that Deborah Ross is willing to recognize and acknowledge that.”
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Ross was first elected to the House in 2020 and began taking AIPAC money in 2022. She received $41,900 from AIPAC in that cycle and an additional $97,876 for her 2024 campaign, according to campaign finance records.
Her pledge comes at a time when Democratic politics in North Carolina have been divided around the issue of Israel and Palestine.
In late June, the North Carolina Democratic Party passed a resolution calling for a complete arms embargo on all military aid to Israel until it ends its apartheid rule of Palestinians. The resolution won by a narrow margin — 161 to 151 — and withstood pushback from the state’s centrist Jewish Democrats who argued it would direct voters’ attention to the party’s foreign policy platform, while they wanted to focus on the economy.
McAllister and a broad coalition within the North Carolina Democratic Party — which includes the party’s Arab, African American, LGBTQ, interfaith, Muslim, and progressive caucuses; the Jewish Democrats; and the NC Association of Teen Democrats — supported the resolution.
McAllister was among five members of the coalition who met with members of Ross’s office on August 19, when her staff confirmed her anti-AIPAC pledge, McAllister told The Intercept. The group also urged her office to co-sponsor the Block the Bombs to Israel Act, a bill working its way through the House of Representatives that aims to end some weapons shipments to Israel.
Even Former AIPAC Democrats Are Signing On to Block Arms Sales to Israel
The bill, which had drawn 40 co-sponsors as of Thursday, would prohibit the Trump administration from providing Israel with specific U.S.-made weapons that the Israeli military has used in documented war crimes against Palestinians.
Ross’s spokesperson declined to comment on whether she would support the legislation.
IfNotNow, a Jewish-led progressive organization backing Block the Bombs and helping lead the Reject AIPAC coalition, praised Ross for rejecting the Israel lobby’s dollars and called on her to co-sponsor the bill.
“It’s great to see Rep. Ross join the growing number of Democrats who have previously welcomed AIPAC’s support and are now accepting the fact that aligning with right-wing billionaires only empowers fascists like Netanyahu and Trump,” said Lauren Maunus, the political director for IfNotNow. “Now, we look forward to her signing on to the Block the Bombs Act.”
We’re independent of corporate interests — and powered by members. Join us.
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Foushee is co-sponsoring the bill, as are at least two other lawmakers who previously received AIPAC money: Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who received $46,000 from AIPAC in 2022, and Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., who took $15,000 in 2022 and 2024.
At least three other representatives who are also AIPAC recipients have made statements in support of blocking arms to Israel in recent weeks, but have yet to sign on to the Block the Bombs bill. That list now includes Oregon Democrats Maxine Dexter and Suzanne Bonamici and, most recently, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, a leading moderate Democrat in Congress and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
“A Purely Manmade Famine”: How Israel Is Starving Gaza
On Tuesday, Smith said he supported blocking “the sale of some weapons now” to Israel to compel the country to enact a ceasefire, allow a flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and halt its expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Smith has received more than $700,000 in contributions from AIPAC since 2022, including $46,900 in 2025, finance records said.
After decades of lobbying on the Hill, AIPAC, which includes Republican billionaires within its donor stream, began directly funding congressional elections in 2021. It spent millions last cycle unseating Democrats who have been critical of Israel, most notably progressive former lawmakers Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri.
