The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, plans to stop endorsing candidates, making direct contributions to the PAC and earmarking contributions to candidates. The move reverses a strategy adopted five years ago as the influential pro-Israel group faces growing political resistance.
The change was disclosed Wednesday in a letter to members obtained by CNBC. AIPAC will continue to operate the United Democracy Project, its super PAC, while placing more emphasis on mobilizing individual donors to give directly to candidates, according to the letter.
Jewish Insider was first to report the change.
“We seek to significantly expand our political involvement as a community and increase the direct impact of our activists. This will be our focus over the next two years,” AIPAC spokesperson Deryn Sousa told CNBC in a statement.
In the letter, however, the group called 2026 “one of the most challenging environments in recent memory” and warned that these challenges “will continue to grow.”
The overhaul removes some of AIPAC’s most visible political activities while preserving its ability to move large sums of money. It could also make AIPAC’s influence harder to detect in campaign finance records. Donations routed through the group are currently disclosed as AIPAC-only contributions, while direct donations from its members would not carry the same label.
The distinction is important because AIPAC’s support has become a liability in some Democratic primaries amid the Gaza war, with candidates attacking rivals for accepting its support and some lawmakers pledging to reject money tied to the group.
A Pew Research Center survey this year found that 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents had an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% in 2022.
AIPAC deployed about $105.1 million through its traditional PAC and affiliated super PAC this cycle, according to a CNBC analysis of FEC filings. His United Democracy Project reported $53.4 million in independent expenditures through the end of September, according to FEC filings.
AIPAC’s traditional PAC was the nation’s largest contributor to candidates and other political committees in 2025, giving $26.8 million, according to FEC data. That was more than four times the $6.1 million contributed by the National Association of Realtors’ PAC, the second-largest contributor.
AIPAC’s biggest intervention during the cycle was also a major defeat. His super PAC United Democracy Project spent more than $30 million in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary to support Rep. Haley Stevens and oppose Abdul El-Sayed, according to a CNBC analysis of FEC filings, but El-Sayed narrowly won the nomination.
The super PAC also spent millions in the House primaries, pitting Democrats Cori Bush and Tom Malinowski against Republican Thomas Massie. According to a CNBC analysis of FEC filings, he spent more than $3 million in the Bush race, about $2.3 million against Malinowski and more than $4 million in the Kentucky primary where Massie was defeated.
The United Democracy Project will continue to operate, according to the letter, preserving AIPAC’s ability to raise unlimited sums for independent political spending, even as the group ends candidate endorsements, direct PAC contributions and earmarks.
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