Pro-Israel America
FoundedMarch 19, 2019 (2019-03-19)
Legal statusMembership Organization PAC
Members
170,000 (July 2021)
Executive Director
Jeff Mendelsohn
Websiteproisraelamerica.org

Pro-Israel America (Pro-Israel America PAC) is an American advocacy and lobbying group that supports pro-Israel policies. It serves as a channel for donations between members and endorsed candidates, which includes incumbent Members of Congress or challengers regardless of political affiliation. It is closely affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and has a bipartisan history of endorsements.[1]

History

Pro-Israel America was founded by Jeff Mendelsohn and Jonathan Missner in March 2019 and unveiled at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Annual Policy Conference. Mendelsohn was AIPAC’s outreach director and Missner was previously the managing director of national affairs at AIPAC. The group was founded to encourage more grassroots support and small dollar donations for pro-Israel political candidates.[2]

Noah Kulwin of HuffPost wrote that:

"Creating a group like Pro-Israel America represents a huge strategic shift for AIPAC. For years, AIPAC has been able to publicly put distance between itself and the large sums of money that pro-Israel donors marshal on behalf of preferred candidates. By supporting new groups like Pro-Israel America...and giving them prime placement at its flagship conference — AIPAC is publicly linking itself to the kind of election cycle work it has long kept at arm’s length."[3]

Sludge, a 501(c)(3) anti-corruption non-profit news website founded by the Participatory Politics Foundation, called Pro-Israel America "an AIPAC-Tied Group".[4]

Political activity

2020

At launch, Pro-Israel America endorsed 14 Democrats and 13 Republicans. The slate included Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jim Risch (R-ID), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Chris Coons (D-DL), Doug Jones (D-AL) and Gary Peters (D-MI); Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5), Ted Deutch (D-FL-22), Eliot Engel (D-NY-16), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5), Ted Lieu (D-CA-33), Nita Lowey (D-NY-17), Grace Meng (D-NY), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL-7), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Brad Sherman (D-CA-30), Juan Vargas (D-CA-51), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23), Steve Chabot (R-OH-1), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1), Kay Granger (R-TX-12), Will Hurd (R-TX-23), Brian Mast (R-FL-18), Michael McCaul (R-TX-10) and Joe Wilson (R-SC-2).[5]

Pro-Israel America raised $400,000 for Ilhan Omar's primary challenger, Antone Melton-Meaux. Omar won 58-38%.[6] By July, the group had raised $2 million, amassed 150,000 members, and endorsed 52 candidates; 21 Republicans and 31 Democrats.[7]

In a post-election impact report, Pro-Israel America reported that endorsed candidates had a 95% victory rate.[8] According to OpenSecrets, 53% of contributions went to Democrats and 46% went to Republicans.[9]

2021

Pro-Israel America endorsed Cuyahoga County Council member Shontel Brown in the Democratic primary for a 2021 special election in Ohio's 11th congressional district.[10] Pro-Israel views were initially seen as an important factor of the race and an indicator of Democrat's views on Israel.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Kampeas, Ron (March 19, 2019). "Former AIPAC officials launch political action committee to direct funds to pro-Israel candidates". Jweekly.
  2. ↑ Cortellessa, Eric (March 19, 2019). "After Omar controversy, new group aims to get more Israel backers into Congress". The Times of Israel.
  3. ↑ Kulwin, Noah (March 4, 2019). "Here's The Pro-Israel Lobby's New Plan To Preserve Its Political Influence". HuffPost. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  4. ↑ Shaw, Donald (June 22, 2020). "Engel's Top Donor is an AIPAC-Tied Group That Backs Powerful GOP Politicians". Sludge. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  5. ↑ Richman, Jackson (March 20, 2019). "New Pro-Israel America aims to boost political candidates, Congress, strengthen US-Israel alliance". Jewish News Syndicate.
  6. ↑ Cortellessa, Eric (July 29, 2020). "US pro-Israel group raises $400,000 to boost Ilhan Omar's primary challenger". The Times of Israel.
  7. ↑ "Pro-Israel America meets first-cycle goal, raises $2 million for 2020 candidates". Jewish News Syndicate. 22 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "2020 Election Impacts".
  9. ↑ "Pro-israel America PAC PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates". OpenSecrets.
  10. ↑ Kassel, Matthew (May 13, 2021). "Nina Turner and Shontel Brown diverge on Israel-Gaza conflict". Jewish Insider.
  11. ↑ Ackley, Kate (June 1, 2021). "Democratic primaries will reveal party's debate on Israel". Roll Call.
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