During the second year of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, American Jewish organizations boosted lobbying expenses and campaign donations, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission and the secretary of the U.S. Senate.
Jewish groups have spent and given more since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to a sharp increase in Jew-hatred, as well as efforts by some members of Congress to limit aid to the Jewish state after it took military action in Gaza to eradicate the terror group.
The biggest spender among pro-Israel groups remains the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which boosted its lobbying costs to $1.8 million during the first six months of 2025, a 12.5% increase from $1.6 million during the same period in 2024.
“They’re going to be dominating the lobbying expenditure database,” Craig Holman, who handles campaign finance issues for the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, told JNS.
The pro-Israel lobby also increased its political action committee contributions by about 88% percent—from $6.8 million in the first six months of last year to $12.8 million from Jan. 1 to June 30.
“Grassroots pro-Israel activists are deeply engaged in both the legislative and political process given the critical importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship, as the Jewish state battles aggression from Iran and its terrorist proxies,” Marshall Wittmann, an AIPAC spokesman, told JNS.
“As the 2026 midterm elections approach, that increased involvement will ensure that the voice of the pro-Israel community will be heard,” Wittmann said.
The Republican Jewish Coalition doubled its lobbying spending after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom the group endorsed and spent millions trying to elect, in January. The RNC reported spending $200,000 during the first six months of the year, double the $100,000 it spent during the same period in 2024, per revised disclosures.
RJC spokesman Sam Markstein told JNS that the organization increased its lobbying staff in Washington. The RJC PAC made $110,911 worth of contributions from January to June, about a 57% increase from $70,798 during the same period a year ago.
“Our members and our leaders from across the country are engaged,” Markstein told JNS. “They’re motivated and excited by what they saw from the White House and Congress.”
“It’s not just the RJC,” he said. “Republican committees and groups and candidates are doing exceptionally well, because our supporters are motivated and engaged by what they’ve seen over the last six months.”
Orthodox Jewry also largely backed Trump, and the Orthodox Union hired lobbyists for the first time since 2018, disclosures show. Orthodox Jews supported Trump over Kamala Harris in last fall’s election, 74% to 22%, according to a Jewish Electorate Institute poll.
The OU hired the lobbying firm of top Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard, who was also brought on by the Anti-Defamation League. The OU paid Ballard $80,000 this year to lobby on taxes, education and other issues concerning nonprofit organizations, per his disclosure forms. (JNS sought comment from the OU.)
The Orthodox Union also rehired Capitol Tax Partners to lobby on tax issues and paid the firm $50,000 this year. Capitol Tax Partners last lobbied for the Orthodox group in 2018.
Among other groups lobbying in Washington, J Street, which describes itself as “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy” and has been sharply critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, boosted its lobbying to $410,000 in 2025 from $260,000 in 2024, about a 58% increase.
Its PAC’s campaign donations rose by about 36%, from $806,994 in 2024 to $1.1 million in 2025. (JNS sought comment from J Street.)
NORPAC, which supports the “critically important U.S.-Israel relationship,” doesn’t lobby. It increased its campaign giving by about 375%, from $136,601 in the first six months last year to $648,444 this year.
“We have become more active,” Dr. Ben Chouake, the group’s president and an emergency medicine physician, told JNS.
The ADL almost doubled its lobbying expenses last year, and the group dedicated to fighting Jew-hatred continued an upward trend on spending.
During the first six months of the year, ADL lobbying expenses rose to $840,000, up about 17% from $720,000 in 2024.
“ADL’s lobbying expenditures increased in the first six months of 2025 due to our broad and deliberate expansion into fighting antisemitism at the state level,” spokesman Todd Gutnick told JNS.
Other Jewish groups also increased their spending in an effort to influence the federal government.
Jewish Federations of North America’s expenditures grew to $386,622 from $320,000 (about 21%), as it lobbied on the Nonprofit Security Grant Program for houses of worship, and the Zionist Organization of America spent $100,000 this year, up 25% from $80,000 last year.
