The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is planning to spend a $100 million war chest taking out Democrats who are viciously anti-Israel.

According to a report from Politico, AIPAC has set its sights on various anti-Zionist candidates across both the House and Senate as tensions and opposition to Israel's military campaign against Hamas grow within the far-left wing of the Democratic Party:

AIPAC is expected to spend $100 million across its political entities in 2024, taking aim at candidates they deem insufficiently supportive of Israel, according to three people with direct knowledge of the figure, who were granted anonymity to discuss private meetings.

The strategy has taken on new urgency this election season from donors animated by the Israel-Hamas war. AIPAC’s biggest targets are members of the so-called Squad of progressive House Democrats who have been openly pressuring the administration to call for a cease-fire. 

But AIPAC’s ambitions are broader. United Democracy Project, the group’s super PAC, is monitoring 15 to 20 House races and polling in many of those districts, according to a person directly familiar with UDP’s strategy and granted anonymity to discuss the approach.

The report adds that the spending spree may prove an "existential threat" for progressives who are unable to fundraise at the same level as AIPAC candidates:

So far this cycle, AIPAC has bundled at least $19 million for House and Senate campaigns, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings. Top recipients include high-ranking members such as House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California, as well as stalwart Israel supporters such as Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas).

...

AIPAC is becoming an existential threat for progressives, who are bracing to be hit hardest. Progressives acknowledge they won’t be able to keep pace financially, but they plan to lean on their candidates’ organizing strength and connections to their districts.

Such an effort underscores the growing divisions within the Democratic Party over the conflict in the Middle East, with various constituencies, including young people and American Muslims, increasingly dropping their support for Joe Biden (and in some cases, the party altogether) over its lukewarm support for Israel. 

A poll conducted by Reuters last month found that 56 percent of identified Democrats said they would be less willing to support a candidate who voted in favor of military assistance for Israel. 

The problem facing Biden was exemplified last week when over 100,000 people voted "uncommitted" in the party's Michigan primary. If these people do not turn out for Biden in November as a form of protest, it could hand the state and its electoral votes back to Donald Trump. 

CNN reports the first numbers out of Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest population of Arab Americans in the state.

Biden: 23%
Uncommitted: 75% pic.twitter.com/kJWRGsqci9

— The Recount (@therecount) February 28, 2024

Fortunately, the Republican Party does not have the same "Israel issue" as the Democrats. Although there may be some pockets of opposition within the grassroots, the party remains overwhelmingly united in its support for Israel and its response to the Hamas attacks last October.