A Nazi-era law, a 1962 switcheroo, a hundred million dollars in shell-game money, and a war-criming Israeli PM. Here’s the explainer they don’t want you to read
I think this was the most eye-opening post I’ve read in the last two years on Substack. I never have supported or donated to any lobbying groups like this one or the DNC, RNC, or any of the others that I can’t identify specifically. Sounds like that was a pretty good decision on my part. Hope that after the November elections, we can get the bipartisan FARA passed and get rid of things like AIPAC. Thank you, Dean, for spelling this out with such clarity.
AIPAC does corrupt practices by giving money to candidates for supporting the ruthless ambitions of Israel death machine, they don't care about Americans own needs, they want to influence our elections, they work for Bibi war crime useful idiot, they are toxic, Dan Goldman lost last night..... he supports Israel at all costs, now he is gone, we are taking back our control for freedom and peace. Fetterman, go you vote with trump your gone!
I actually changed my mind on who I voted for here in Illinois' super crowded, and nationally watched, 9th district primary earlier this year in March. I voted for Kat Abughazaleh, the only candidate NOT taking AIPAC money in that race. I never EVER thought I would be voting for her, but I did so, proudly. She didn't win, but she came in a VERY strong second. The Track AIPAC site is incredibly interesting and eye-opening. It's an important site, and I hope more take a look before voting. Thanks for keeping this issue on the front burner.
Very eye opening Dean. I agree it must be gone when we take back congress. Citzens United also has to be destroyed. Things need to be on a level playing field.
Oh good freaking lord, look what the CBC website in Canada has just put up.
Extract:
"Families of Canadian servicemen buried in Gaza say they want the government to do more to protect their loved ones' remains. Some say they would like to see their relatives — the last Canadian soldiers to be buried overseas — removed from a cemetery that has been repeatedly damaged by the Israel Defense Forces and brought home.
Twenty-two Canadians are buried at the Gaza War Cemetery in the Tuffah district of Gaza City, all of whom lost their lives during the UN's first major peacekeeping operation that began following the Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956.
Aerial images reviewed by CBC's visual investigations team show that the IDF has progressively destroyed headstones, dug berms with heavy earthmoving equipment, parked tanks and other armoured vehicles around the site and triggered explosions that saw a section of the Canadian peacekeeper plot blown into the air."
By the way the Israel War Cabinet is not a 'Likud' government, it's a coalition of fanatical rightwing ethnic-cleansing sects.
Second, avoid labeling Israeli state policy or foreign policy as right-wing or centrist. In 1975, the self-described 'democratic-socialist' PM of Israel, Shimon Peres, then defense minister, welcomed in the far-right minister of defence of Apartheid South Africa, Piet Botha, and invited Botha to _purchase_ Israeli-made nuclear weapons. Even the existence of an Israeli nuclear device was illegal. The sales of any such device would have been scandalous.
As a student in the late 70s, for a course on the political history of South Africa, I did research on Israel's support for the entirely racist apartheid government of the Republic South Africa. My focus then was on Israel's help to construct a nuclear energy plant in RSA.
Israel's nuclear program in all regards - weapons and 'peaceful uses' - was entirely illegal.
Too bad I never thought to investigate links between the Israeli military and its secret services to the thugs in the RSA assassinating black people and white people for opposing apartheid.
However, there was disagreement within the Israeli government and public on Peres' move to strengthen Israel strategically. Many within Israeli society disagreed and did so vociferously.
Not unlike when Bush invaded Iraq, and 250,000 Americans demonstrating against the war, but only 1 or 2 Democrats voted against it in Congress.
Not unlike small towns, villages, and organizations within Israel fighting against Israeli government policies.
It's how Neve Shalom, What Al Salaam came into being.
Wow - thank you for this well-researched history. I had no idea. My husband is Jewish and we both despise the conflation of being opposed to the current Israeli government and their actions to anti-semitism. I hope we are truly at a turning point.
Dean so incredibly sad from this elder Jew who lived in Israel many years.
Thank you for educated us about AIPAC's history, of which I was unfamiliar. For years my family and I worked for rapprochement between Jew and Palestinian, and supported the hundreds of organizations, NGO's, etc. that work in his area within Israel. For years I have fought against AIPAC but did not know about Kenan. Not mentioned Dean but AIPAC along with its historically major mouthpiece Alan (scum of the earth) Dershowitz harassed, and tried to ruin the careers of many Jewish professors who spoke out against AIPAC, from Duke, MIT, Stanford, and NYU.
The irony here...AIPAC supports MAGA, and if you support MAGA, you're an anti-Semite, because Trump is the biggest propeller of racism.
Next Irony is that the biggest propagator of antisemitism, is no less than Bibi Netanyahu, and his zealot regime.
Unfortunately I think it's behind a paywall, but if you can, please check out the unbelievable article and graphics in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz (which is always being intimidated by Bibi's gov). I will post a link below. They show you exactly in a superb graphic, what Bibi is doing in the West Bank.
"Undoing History: As the World Watched Gaza, Settlers Charged Ahead in the West Bank. A Clash Is Imminent
18 settlements and 8 army bases cut deep inside Palestinian areas. This is what it looks like -June 23, 2026
A revolution is taking place in the northern West Bank. A decades-long settler project is becoming a reality – fast. Settler representatives in the Israeli government are reaping political gains, while the IDF enables and supports the effort on the ground. The revolution started unfolding after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government was sworn in 2022. It was accelerated after Hamas' October 7 attack.
At the heart of the drama is an effort to reestablish settlements evacuated under Israel's 2005 disengagement plan, deep inside Palestinian-populated areas, where Israelis had largely been absent for nearly two decades. In total, settlers are taking over 18 strategic sites that cut through the largest contiguous Palestinian population area in the West Bank.
Israel's return to the area includes the deployment of military forces, the construction of bases to protect settlements, road building, land expropriations and the intimidation of Palestinians in their daily lives. Senior military officials understand the move could ignite the region. Settler leaders, however, celebrate it: " ' This is what redemption looks like.' "
Trump 1.0 only encouraged Bibi with moving the embassy to Jerusalem, and of course the bogus Abraham Accords which paved the way for Kushner's payoff from SA.
The last irony here is that anyone who accepts AIPAC money, is actually harming Israel.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this information. I appreciate eveything you have done and have been trying to do.
Haaretz is good. For instance, I recall that this media outlet in Israel had the guts to explain after Oct. 7th how Bibi actually ENCOURAGED and begged Qatar to keep funding Hamas in Gaza.
Thank you for this analysis, Dean. One can always trust that you provide clarity and truth.
I find it appalling that Israel, populated by people who know what it's like to have genocide inflicted on them, would wreak genocide on anyone else. One would think they, of all people, would know better.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, plain and simple. I believe AIPAC knows that, too. They know the damage he's wrought, just to keep himself out of prison.
I quite agree with you. But it's still appalling that a group that knows what is like to be the victims of genocidal war would inflict that on anyone else. It just is.
Will overturning Citizens United affect AIPAC? In any event, thank you for this post on the history of AIPAC. It is enlightening and shows how big money is destroying democracy.
Thank you for putting it all together. Thank you for distinguishing a people/religious beliefs from a small nation that abuses its neighbors in unlawful ways.
May I highly recommend Dean that you watch this important conversation regarding The Greater isr@el Project that lays out what you and Zev misrepresented about the genocide and the history of the USA/isr relationship yesterday. The historical facts MATTER here and what happened in nyc was key to this toxic project. I was really stunned as it was clear so many of your subscribers were as well! You had botched the narrative in a foolish way. We expect better from you being you love history. You can’t keep misleading the truth of the facts on the books. Thanks for taking time to read my msg and watch this substack lesson :
Interesting assessment. I’d bet the humans on the ground in Gaza and the WB wouldn’t need a distinction however. Jeffrey Sachs is very clear as are others on this ongoing and globally ignored genocide in Gaza. Over 1000 beloved humans have been killed since the fake cease fire under the sham board of peace. Our commander in thief can’t be troubled by it and Net has no intentions of stopping his IDF from taking “70%”. It’s no longer in the headlines and I appreciate you mentioning Gaza but I’ve already expressed my concerns. Thx fir your time from Colorado
Kathy, thanks for pushing on this — it's a fair question, and I want to be precise rather than defensive.
I used "war crime" rather than "genocide" not because I think one excludes the other, but because they're distinct legal categories that can describe the very same conduct. Genocide, under the 1948 Convention, is essentially a war crime or crime against humanity carrying an additional element: the specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group "as such." That extra mental-state requirement is a higher evidentiary bar, which is precisely why prosecutors and courts often start with the more established categories.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in November 2024 for war crimes (starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally directing attacks against civilians) and crimes against humanity (murder, persecution, other inhumane acts). Those are the charges that have already cleared a judicial threshold.
The genocide question is being adjudicated at the ICJ in South Africa v. Israel, where the court has already found it "plausible" that genocidal acts are occurring and issued provisional measures. A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in 2025 that Israel is responsible for genocide. Human Rights Watch describes the conduct as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide — all three.
So: same acts, multiple legal labels, all potentially accurate. I reached for the term already cemented in a charging document. I don't read "genocide" as inaccurate — I read it as the harder thing to prove in court, and the thing more and more credible bodies are concluding is in fact what we're watching.
I think this was the most eye-opening post I’ve read in the last two years on Substack. I never have supported or donated to any lobbying groups like this one or the DNC, RNC, or any of the others that I can’t identify specifically. Sounds like that was a pretty good decision on my part. Hope that after the November elections, we can get the bipartisan FARA passed and get rid of things like AIPAC. Thank you, Dean, for spelling this out with such clarity.
Superb. Thank you🙏
Wow, had no idea, thank you for the eye opener
Thanks for this post Dean. This is why I am a proud paid subscriber - I learn so much with your posts!
Ditto 🙌
AIPAC does corrupt practices by giving money to candidates for supporting the ruthless ambitions of Israel death machine, they don't care about Americans own needs, they want to influence our elections, they work for Bibi war crime useful idiot, they are toxic, Dan Goldman lost last night..... he supports Israel at all costs, now he is gone, we are taking back our control for freedom and peace. Fetterman, go you vote with trump your gone!
Who won, please?
all the progressive candidates, really great for better Democratic party, they are all similar to AOC!
I actually changed my mind on who I voted for here in Illinois' super crowded, and nationally watched, 9th district primary earlier this year in March. I voted for Kat Abughazaleh, the only candidate NOT taking AIPAC money in that race. I never EVER thought I would be voting for her, but I did so, proudly. She didn't win, but she came in a VERY strong second. The Track AIPAC site is incredibly interesting and eye-opening. It's an important site, and I hope more take a look before voting. Thanks for keeping this issue on the front burner.
Very eye opening Dean. I agree it must be gone when we take back congress. Citzens United also has to be destroyed. Things need to be on a level playing field.
Oh good freaking lord, look what the CBC website in Canada has just put up.
Extract:
"Families of Canadian servicemen buried in Gaza say they want the government to do more to protect their loved ones' remains. Some say they would like to see their relatives — the last Canadian soldiers to be buried overseas — removed from a cemetery that has been repeatedly damaged by the Israel Defense Forces and brought home.
Twenty-two Canadians are buried at the Gaza War Cemetery in the Tuffah district of Gaza City, all of whom lost their lives during the UN's first major peacekeeping operation that began following the Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956.
Aerial images reviewed by CBC's visual investigations team show that the IDF has progressively destroyed headstones, dug berms with heavy earthmoving equipment, parked tanks and other armoured vehicles around the site and triggered explosions that saw a section of the Canadian peacekeeper plot blown into the air."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gaza-peacekeeper-cemetery-canada-veterans-9.7244382
Excellent column, congratulations.
By the way the Israel War Cabinet is not a 'Likud' government, it's a coalition of fanatical rightwing ethnic-cleansing sects.
Second, avoid labeling Israeli state policy or foreign policy as right-wing or centrist. In 1975, the self-described 'democratic-socialist' PM of Israel, Shimon Peres, then defense minister, welcomed in the far-right minister of defence of Apartheid South Africa, Piet Botha, and invited Botha to _purchase_ Israeli-made nuclear weapons. Even the existence of an Israeli nuclear device was illegal. The sales of any such device would have been scandalous.
Agreed!
As a student in the late 70s, for a course on the political history of South Africa, I did research on Israel's support for the entirely racist apartheid government of the Republic South Africa. My focus then was on Israel's help to construct a nuclear energy plant in RSA.
Israel's nuclear program in all regards - weapons and 'peaceful uses' - was entirely illegal.
Too bad I never thought to investigate links between the Israeli military and its secret services to the thugs in the RSA assassinating black people and white people for opposing apartheid.
However, there was disagreement within the Israeli government and public on Peres' move to strengthen Israel strategically. Many within Israeli society disagreed and did so vociferously.
Not unlike when Bush invaded Iraq, and 250,000 Americans demonstrating against the war, but only 1 or 2 Democrats voted against it in Congress.
Not unlike small towns, villages, and organizations within Israel fighting against Israeli government policies.
It's how Neve Shalom, What Al Salaam came into being.
Wow - thank you for this well-researched history. I had no idea. My husband is Jewish and we both despise the conflation of being opposed to the current Israeli government and their actions to anti-semitism. I hope we are truly at a turning point.
Very helpful, Dean, thank you! also, your reporting all day long is incredible!
America is its own worst enemy. Always has been.
Dean so incredibly sad from this elder Jew who lived in Israel many years.
Thank you for educated us about AIPAC's history, of which I was unfamiliar. For years my family and I worked for rapprochement between Jew and Palestinian, and supported the hundreds of organizations, NGO's, etc. that work in his area within Israel. For years I have fought against AIPAC but did not know about Kenan. Not mentioned Dean but AIPAC along with its historically major mouthpiece Alan (scum of the earth) Dershowitz harassed, and tried to ruin the careers of many Jewish professors who spoke out against AIPAC, from Duke, MIT, Stanford, and NYU.
The irony here...AIPAC supports MAGA, and if you support MAGA, you're an anti-Semite, because Trump is the biggest propeller of racism.
Next Irony is that the biggest propagator of antisemitism, is no less than Bibi Netanyahu, and his zealot regime.
Unfortunately I think it's behind a paywall, but if you can, please check out the unbelievable article and graphics in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz (which is always being intimidated by Bibi's gov). I will post a link below. They show you exactly in a superb graphic, what Bibi is doing in the West Bank.
Link and excerpt below:
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2026-06-23/ty-article-static/.premium/as-the-world-watched-gaza-israeli-settlers-charged-ahead-in-the-west-bank-a-clash-is-imminent/0000019e-b6d1-d7bd-a3bf-befd20750000
"Undoing History: As the World Watched Gaza, Settlers Charged Ahead in the West Bank. A Clash Is Imminent
18 settlements and 8 army bases cut deep inside Palestinian areas. This is what it looks like -June 23, 2026
A revolution is taking place in the northern West Bank. A decades-long settler project is becoming a reality – fast. Settler representatives in the Israeli government are reaping political gains, while the IDF enables and supports the effort on the ground. The revolution started unfolding after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government was sworn in 2022. It was accelerated after Hamas' October 7 attack.
At the heart of the drama is an effort to reestablish settlements evacuated under Israel's 2005 disengagement plan, deep inside Palestinian-populated areas, where Israelis had largely been absent for nearly two decades. In total, settlers are taking over 18 strategic sites that cut through the largest contiguous Palestinian population area in the West Bank.
Israel's return to the area includes the deployment of military forces, the construction of bases to protect settlements, road building, land expropriations and the intimidation of Palestinians in their daily lives. Senior military officials understand the move could ignite the region. Settler leaders, however, celebrate it: " ' This is what redemption looks like.' "
Trump 1.0 only encouraged Bibi with moving the embassy to Jerusalem, and of course the bogus Abraham Accords which paved the way for Kushner's payoff from SA.
The last irony here is that anyone who accepts AIPAC money, is actually harming Israel.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this information. I appreciate eveything you have done and have been trying to do.
Haaretz is good. For instance, I recall that this media outlet in Israel had the guts to explain after Oct. 7th how Bibi actually ENCOURAGED and begged Qatar to keep funding Hamas in Gaza.
Thank you for this analysis, Dean. One can always trust that you provide clarity and truth.
I find it appalling that Israel, populated by people who know what it's like to have genocide inflicted on them, would wreak genocide on anyone else. One would think they, of all people, would know better.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, plain and simple. I believe AIPAC knows that, too. They know the damage he's wrought, just to keep himself out of prison.
Any group - let me repeat - ANY HUMAN GROUP - contains within it the possibility of its members doing harm to others.
Jewish people are a HUMAN GROUP. Holocaust or no Holocaust.
I quite agree with you. But it's still appalling that a group that knows what is like to be the victims of genocidal war would inflict that on anyone else. It just is.
Thank you for the background on this Dean- it really is peeling back the onion, the smell gets worse. Kars for Kids is another
My sister recently told me about Kars for Kids, and the deceit behind it.
Will overturning Citizens United affect AIPAC? In any event, thank you for this post on the history of AIPAC. It is enlightening and shows how big money is destroying democracy.
Thank you for putting it all together. Thank you for distinguishing a people/religious beliefs from a small nation that abuses its neighbors in unlawful ways.
May I highly recommend Dean that you watch this important conversation regarding The Greater isr@el Project that lays out what you and Zev misrepresented about the genocide and the history of the USA/isr relationship yesterday. The historical facts MATTER here and what happened in nyc was key to this toxic project. I was really stunned as it was clear so many of your subscribers were as well! You had botched the narrative in a foolish way. We expect better from you being you love history. You can’t keep misleading the truth of the facts on the books. Thanks for taking time to read my msg and watch this substack lesson :
https://substack.com/@glenndiesen/note/p-203587743?r=khorh&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Interesting assessment. I’d bet the humans on the ground in Gaza and the WB wouldn’t need a distinction however. Jeffrey Sachs is very clear as are others on this ongoing and globally ignored genocide in Gaza. Over 1000 beloved humans have been killed since the fake cease fire under the sham board of peace. Our commander in thief can’t be troubled by it and Net has no intentions of stopping his IDF from taking “70%”. It’s no longer in the headlines and I appreciate you mentioning Gaza but I’ve already expressed my concerns. Thx fir your time from Colorado
Kathy, thanks for pushing on this — it's a fair question, and I want to be precise rather than defensive.
I used "war crime" rather than "genocide" not because I think one excludes the other, but because they're distinct legal categories that can describe the very same conduct. Genocide, under the 1948 Convention, is essentially a war crime or crime against humanity carrying an additional element: the specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group "as such." That extra mental-state requirement is a higher evidentiary bar, which is precisely why prosecutors and courts often start with the more established categories.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in November 2024 for war crimes (starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally directing attacks against civilians) and crimes against humanity (murder, persecution, other inhumane acts). Those are the charges that have already cleared a judicial threshold.
The genocide question is being adjudicated at the ICJ in South Africa v. Israel, where the court has already found it "plausible" that genocidal acts are occurring and issued provisional measures. A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in 2025 that Israel is responsible for genocide. Human Rights Watch describes the conduct as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide — all three.
So: same acts, multiple legal labels, all potentially accurate. I reached for the term already cemented in a charging document. I don't read "genocide" as inaccurate — I read it as the harder thing to prove in court, and the thing more and more credible bodies are concluding is in fact what we're watching.