America’s Pro-Israel Lobby Has Run Out Of Road – OpEd

By Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman, was last week defeated in the Kentucky primaries. Despite all the energy and enthusiasm of his campaign, he lost to a little-known opponent, Ed Gallrein.

But this was no ordinary Republican primary — with more than $32 million spent on advertising, it was the most expensive House primary on record, according to tracking firm AdImpact. Politico reported that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other pro-Israel interest groups spent more than $9 million in a bid to unseat Massie.

Massie said in his concession speech: “I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.”

Despite being a committed Republican, Massie committed three sins that made Donald Trump and the pro-Israel lobby go after him. He pushed for the release of the Epstein files, he opposed the war on Iran and he was against sending money to Israel. After admitting defeat, Massie said that this election had started a “movement.” This is precisely the case because people are now questioning the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on America.

While pro-Israel influence on US elections was evident before this primary, Massie’s defeat made it very obvious for everyone. Massie is not just a local politician. He is popular on a national level. He became nationally known when he was interviewed by Tucker Carlson last year and spoke about AIPAC assigning a handler for each congressman, which Massie called their “babysitter.” His popularity increased after he pushed for the release of the Epstein files.

Alongside AIPAC, pro-Israel billionaires from outside Kentucky were also spending millions in an effort to defeat Massie. One was Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Huge sums were spent on “deepfake” artificial intelligence-generated adverts showing Massie holding hands and checking into a hotel with Reps. Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The ads falsely claimed that Massie was in a “throuple” relationship with the Democratic lawmakers.

While previously the question was whether the pro-Israel lobby had a substantial influence on elections, the discourse has shifted now that has become an established fact. There is a difference between playing by the rules when supporting a candidate and playing dirty to manipulate American politics.

Several people have called for an audit and a recount. Others, like high-profile former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch supporter of Massie, believe he should sue the sponsors of the defamatory fake ads linking him to Omar and Ocasio-Cortez.

This tells you one thing: the pro-Israel lobby has reached the end of the road. This is both good news and bad news. The good news is that it does not have much time left. The bad news is that, knowing it is living on borrowed time, it will use all the tools at its disposal to get the maximum possible results before its influence dwindles.

In one interview before the election, Massie said there are dozens of other lawmakers who want to speak out against the pro-Israel lobby but are worried that, if they do so, they will lose their seat. “You don’t need 100 Thomas Massies in Congress to turn it around. You just need me to win because there are already 30 or 40 great people in Congress who want to take the right votes, but they’re afraid they can’t get reelected if they do. If I win, the Freedom Caucus finds its voice again,” he said.

This is why the public reaction in the aftermath of this election is crucial. If there is no outcry, the 30 or 40 lawmakers Massie spoke about will be cowed by the pro-Israel lobby and will toe the line. If there is a massive outcry and strong public pushback, the pro-Israel lobby will be forced to recede.

It is important to note that Massie still has another seven months in Congress and he has no interest in playing it nice with anyone in the Republican Party. Chances are that he will push even harder for the full release of the Epstein files. He could even opt for the nuclear option, which is to read out names on the floor of Congress. How would that play out in the midst of an unpopular and unnecessary war and skyrocketing energy prices? It is too early to tell. However, one thing is for sure: Massie has created a movement.

This movement is bad news for AIPAC and it is bad news for billionaires like Adelson who are part of the pro-Israel lobby. Social change has happened. People are now aware. Political change usually comes next and this change will definitely not be in Israel’s favor.

• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.