Beyond AIPAC: Hidden Foreign Influences Shaping US Primaries

The 2026 primary season has been noisy about the so‑called Israel lobby. Rep. Thomas Massie lost his Republican primary and joked that he had to find his opponent Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv. The comment sparked a flurry of criticism and highlighted the obsession with AIPAC.

On the Democratic side, anti‑AIPAC sentiment helped Abdul El‑Sayed win a race in Michigan with a largely Arab electorate. In contrast, Cori Bush blamed AIPAC for her defeat in St. Louis and promised to tear down its “kingdom” in her concession speech.

AIPAC is a domestic lobbying group, similar to the NRA or NAACP, and its influence is often overstated. Real foreign meddling, according to investigators, comes from terror‑linked Islamic networks. El‑Sayed’s father‑in‑law Jukaku Tayeb gave $200,000 to a super PAC and sits on the Islamic Society of North America, an organization tied to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The same campaign raised over $115,000 from donors linked to the Council on American‑Islamic Relations, a group the U.S. Justice Department has called a front for Hamas.

Further evidence shows that Saudi Arabia spent nearly $92 million lobbying in Washington last year, with Turkey also ranking high. Israel’s spending was far lower. These figures suggest that the biggest foreign money in U.S. politics does not come from the Israel lobby but from other state actors and extremist networks.