On lobbying – Chris McGreal in The Guardian:

‘It is in Andy Levin’s nature to pick fights.
The forthright Detroit congressman and former trade union leader has built a political career on confronting big oil, the gun industry and anti-abortion campaigners.
But as the scion of a distinguished Jewish political dynasty, a committed Zionist and the former president of his synagogue, Levin has been stung by the largest pro-Israel lobby group’s campaign to paint him as an enemy of the Jewish state because he has spoken up for the Palestinians.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has spent more than $4m to defeat Levin in next Tuesday’s Democratic primary for a congressional seat in north-western Detroit with a twin strategy to discredit him within the city’s sizable Jewish community while funding an advertising blitz aimed at the wider electorate that avoids mention of the Israel lobby’s involvement.
Aipac and its allies have poured millions of dollars into opposing candidates deemed not to be pro-Israel enough in this year’s Democratic primaries, a move that has alarmed some in the party because much of the money comes from wealthy Trump donors and other rightwing billionaires including Jan Koum, the inventor of WhatsApp, who recently donated $2m.’

(…)

‘Other critics note that while Aipac opposes Levin and other candidates deemed to be out of line on Israel by accusing them of working against America’s interests, it has endorsed 37 Republicans who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s victory after the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2020.
Levin is running for a newly created district after his existing one was scrapped with boundary changes. He is competing against another sitting Democrat, Haley Stevens, whose constituency has also been abolished.
Aipac turned its guns on Levin, a member of the House foreign affairs committee, after he introduced the Two State Solution Act in September, intended to promote a peace agreement including by preventing US aid being used to tighten Israel’s grip on the occupied Palestinian territories, and to block expansion of Jewish settlements and the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
The legislation also infuriated some by defining East Jerusalem as occupied territory, which much of the world says it is, when Israel claims sovereignty over the entire city.
Aipac portrayed the act as “anti-Israel” and Levin as an extremist.
“Andy Levin represents the fringe wing that is working to undermine the US-Israel relationship,” the lobby group said in an email to supporters last week. “Defeating Andy Levin would remove one hostile voice, but as important, ensuring Haley Stevens wins would cement a pro-Israel champion in the Democratic party.”’

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‘The lobby has since poured millions of dollars into supporting Stevens who admits she knew little about Israel until she visited the country three years ago on an Aipac-sponsored trip. Since then she has put an emphasis on “Israel’s right to defend itself” and has expressed scepticism about the US rejoining the Iran nuclear deal.
Levin, on the other hand, comes from a line of politicians with strong ties to Israel including his father, Sander, who served 36 years in Congress, and uncle Carl Levin, who was a US senator for nearly four decades.
Levin accused Aipac of attempting to impose a single hardline view of what it is to be pro-Israel when he has a “proud record” of supporting the Jewish state and a two state solution while also advocating for Palestinian rights. He says his position “has been the position of every Democratic and Republican administration besides Donald Trump”.’

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‘“This is the politics of intimidation. When I wrote the Two State Solution Act, I can’t tell you how many of my colleagues came up to me and said, ‘Oh, Andy, I read your bill, it’s great. But of course, I’m not going to co-sponsor.’ They didn’t even need to say why. It’s just assumed that they’re afraid to cross Aipac.” Much of this fight has gone unnoticed by the average voter in the Detroit district. But they have nonetheless felt its effects.
The UDP has spent heavily on television spots for Stevens that featured President Barack Obama in 2018 praising her work as chief of staff for the taskforce that saw the US auto industry through bankruptcy during the recession. Another focuses on her stand for abortion rights. None of them makes mention of Israel.
Opinion polls show the impact. In February, a Target Insyght poll had the two candidates tied at 41% support each. At the time, Levin led among groups likely to be key to victory, including union workers and women.
A poll by the same company last week showed Stevens at 58% to Levin on 31%. The number of women who said they would vote for Levin fell sharply.’

Read the article here.

Supporting the two-state solution can hardly be described as anti-Israel.

Lobbyists exist everywhere, in Brussels, in DC, in Berlin.

But the cynicism of Aipac – it’s probable that other lobbyists are as cynical as well of course – is unsettling. If you support politicians who are indistinguishable from conspiracy theorists all means are allowed to an end.
In the article J Street is mentioned as well, a more reasonable pro-Israel lobbyist group, they are supporting Levin, but their money and therefor their influence seems to be small.