November 2, 2018

How Israel partisans have been backed in Congress

Mondoweiss -A just-released Midterm Elections Scoreboard shows that Israel partisans have dominated Congress over the past 10 years, despite the preference of American voters, who consistently wish evenhanded policies and feel the U.S. gives Israel too much money.

The detailed scoreboard  on candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives shows that 28 pro-Israel PACs and numerous pro-Israel individuals have given candidates millions of dollars in campaign contributions. There is currently no pro-Palestine PAC (though one of the pro-Israel PACs supports some Palestinian positions).

The scoreboard presents 29 bills and resolutions that were introduced on behalf of Israel, some openly drafted by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Twenty have passed into law or on-record statements, many by unanimous consent. The legislation has accrued a total of over 3,300 co-sponsors.

In the rare cases when pro-Israel bills were unpopular, the split usually occurred along party lines, suggesting that the action was motivated by partisan politics, not deviation from pro-Israel positions.

he scoreboard presents 29 bills and resolutions that were introduced on behalf of Israel, some openly drafted by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Twenty have passed into law or on-record statements, many by unanimous consent. The legislation has accrued a total of over 3,300 co-sponsors.


In the rare cases when pro-Israel bills were unpopular, the split usually occurred along party lines, suggesting that the action was motivated by partisan politics, not deviation from pro-Israel positions.
Only one bill explicitly supportive of Palestinians has been introduced, HR 4391, opposing Israel’s widespread imprisonment of children. The bill has so far garnered 29 cosponsors.


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