How AIPAC and pro-Israel megadonors turned a midterm race into the most expensive primary in U.S. history
About this episode
Ben Samuels discusses the implications of AIPAC's victory in a costly primary battle against Thomas Massie and the broader political landscape regarding Israel and Iran.
The first major primary battle in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections resulted in a significant victory for AIPAC and other pro-Israel megadonors, but Haaretz's Washington correspondent Ben Samuels warned that their celebrations could be premature. The defeat of Representative Thomas Massie – a rare Republican antagonist of U.S. President Donald Trump and harsh critic of Israel whom AIPAC "has wanted to take down for years" – happened after more than $30 million was spent to defeat him in what was the most expensive Congressional primary in American history. Massie was targeted by Trump and his supporters for his disloyalty to the U.S. leader. "They may have won the battle with Thomas Massie, but it's very clear that the ideology and the agenda and the vision that Thomas Massie embodies is not going anywhere – especially with younger voters and also with voters on the progressive left flank that found themselves to be weird ideological allies with this guy," Samuels told the Haaretz Podcast. Samuels also discussed the role that Israel and Iran are playing on the campaign trail, and the contradictory messages from the Trump White House on the drawn-out negotiations…
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