AOC Slams Israeli Lobbying Group for Spending in New Jersey Primary

De facto leader of the far-left Squad Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made no secret of her pro-Hamas anti-Israel stance. Now AOC – sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Friday, saying the pro-Israel lobby undermines democracy, Anadolu reports.

“I hope Dems begin to see that moderate or progressive, AIPAC is not our friend,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X.

She accused the group of backing Jan. 6 insurrectionists while pressuring elected officials to ignore US laws, including the Leahy laws that prohibit assistance to foreign forces committing human rights abuses.

“They are a right-wing organization that undermines democracy,” she said.

“They have zero tolerance for any diversity of thought from their line, and pressure elected officials to increasingly place themselves at odds with our responsibility to represent the electorate and the views of the majority of Americans, who find the genocide in Gaza an appalling affront to American values and do not want to see US taxpayer funded weapons used to perpetuate it,” she added.

Her remarks came in response to reports that AIPAC’s the United Democracy Project (UDP), spent $1.9 million to defeat former Rep. Tom Malinowski in the Democratic primary in New Jersey, while indirectly supporting “moderate” candidate Tahesha Way.

However, even mainstream Democrats have joined AOC in tossing shade at AIPAC, saying that their $2 million may have handed the race to progressive Analilia Mejia.

“It’s pissing people off,” said Steve Schale, a longtime Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign adviser, who described it as “maddening.”

The organization spent heavily through its super PAC, Unite Democracy Project, to attack former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), a pro-Israel moderate who would not support unconditional aid to Israel. In doing so, it provided an opening to Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer backed by Bernie Sanders who has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

AIPAC’s interventions in the New Jersey special election for Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s House seat was the first test of the group’s muscle ahead of the 2026 primary season, when they are expected to spend millions on Democratic primaries across the country. AIPAC’s super PAC is expected to weigh in on House primaries, starting in Illinois’ March primaries. Democratic candidates and strategists are also bracing for them to potentially wade into contentious Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota.

Malinowski said AIPAC’s attacks on him sent a clear message to “other mainstream Democrats.”

“They are now demanding 100 percent fealty,” Malinowski said. “On some level, they may have preferred to elect an anti-Israel progressive versus a mainstream Democrat, who departs from their hard line in a small way.”