AIPAC halts fundraising for endorsed House Democrats who opposed Israel aid

Campaign AIPAC halts fundraising for endorsed House Democrats who opposed Israel aid Comments: by Sophie Brams - 07/17/26 7:59 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Sophie Brams - 07/17/26 7:59 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has suspended campaign fundraising efforts for more than two dozen House Democrats who voted to cut off billions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Israel earlier this week.

More than 100 House Democrats voted in favor of an amendment to the fiscal 2027 funding bill for the State Department and national security brought by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Wednesday that would have restricted funds in the bill from being used to support Israel and reduced the Foreign Military Financing program by $3.3 billion.

The amendment ultimately failed by a 104-314-10 vote, with Democrats almost evenly split on the issue and Massie as the lone GOP vote, but it highlighted a growing shift among the party’s members toward the U.S.’s closest ally in the Middle East.

Now, when people visit AIPAC’s online campaign contribution portal to donate to “pro-Israel” incumbents, the option is no longer available for members who sided with Massie’s amendment.

That includes House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass), among many others.

The donation links were still active as of Friday evening for other House Democrats who opposed the amendment, such as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.).

“AIPAC members are deeply appreciative of their representatives who stand on principle and are disappointed by those who don’t,” Deryn Sousa, an AIPAC spokesperson, told The Hill in a statement.

Democrats have come under increasing pressure from individuals in the left-most flank of the party who are strongly opposed to unconditional support for Israel, primarily driven by the severe humanitarian crisis and civilian casualties in Gaza.

Accepting money from the pro-Israel lobby has become somewhat of an ideological litmus test in Democratic primaries, exposing deep divisions between centrist and progressive factions of the party.

In a post defending his vote, Auchincloss wrote that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump must be held accountable for their “disastrous war against Iran, their empowerment of settler violence in the West Bank, and their strategic incoherence against Islamist terrorism.”

“The authority from Congress to finance and sell American-made weapons to allies is a grant of trust to both a presidential administration and its counterparty heads of government,” he wrote, noting that trust had been “sacrificed” by the president and prime minister’s actions.

This is not the first time that AIPAC has moved to halt campaign fundraising over specific votes.

In May 2024, the group removed the option to directly donate to15 Republican lawmakers who voted against $14 billion in emergency military assistance to Israel.