Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers has asked the “American Israel Public Affairs Committee” (AIPAC) not to campaign on his behalf, fearing support from the pro-Israel lobby could harm his chances of winning the November general election in Michigan, the Israeli media reported.
The decision reported by Axios demonstrates how far AIPAC’s standing has fallen in American politics, after it once enjoyed overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle, according to the Times of Israel.
Over the past year, most Democratic Party candidates have distanced themselves from AIPAC, and accusing one’s opponent of being tied to the pro-Israel group has increasingly becoming the norm, the news website added.
But Rogers’s reported decision to distance himself from AIPAC shows the desire to disassociate from the group now exists in both parties, as the lobby is battered by hostility from both the right and the left.
Polls have shown that Americans are increasingly hostile toward ‘Israel’, it noted.
Rogers spoke with AIPAC chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week. The next day, AIPAC shelved an already-prepared video ad targeting Rogers’s Democratic opponent and outspoken Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed, Axios reported.
“Rogers’s decision to distance himself from AIPAC infuriated officials in the group, which had already spent over $30 million to defeat El-Sayed in the Democratic Party and was prepared to spend millions to help elect the Republican nominee in the general, the report said.”
“Rogers’s aides warned AIPAC before the Democratic primary that they believed El-Sayed would beat moderate Haley Stevens, but the pro-Israel group insisted on staying involved, thinking Stevens would win, Axios said.”
Source: Israeli media