Israel, AIPAC and Difficult Questions for Democrats

About this episode

<p>The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group known as AIPAC, has spent a record amount of money in this year’s midterm elections to either oust or support candidates based on their support of Israel.</p> <p>Jonathan Mahler, a writer for The New York Times Magazine, discusses the new litmus test for the left at a time when the United States’ relationship with Israel is under scrutiny.</p> <p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/jonathan-mahler" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Jonathan Mahler</strong></a>, a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine covering a wide range of topics, including politics, entertainment, education, media, the law and sports.</p> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li>AIPAC wants Democrats to back Israel. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/magazine/aipac-democrats-israel.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instead, they’re turning on the group</a>.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Cheriss May/Sipa, via Associated Press Images</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>