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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Did pro-Israel groups donate $28 million to Congressional candidates in 2020?

Saturday, May 22, 2021

By Austin Tannenbaum

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YES

In the 2020 campaign pro-Israel groups donated $28 million to Congressional candidates. The largest individual Senate recipient, with more than $1 million in donations, was incumbent Republican David Purdue, who lost to the no. 2 recipient, Democrat Jon Ossoff. The other defeated Georgia Republican, Kelly Loeffler, was the no. 3 recipient; her challenger, Raphael Warnock, ranked no. 5.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who ran unopposed, ranked 20th, raising $145,877. About 60% of the total went to Democrats, according to tabulations of federal data by Open Secrets.

Barred from directly contributing to campaigns, foreign governments instead court influence through U.S. allies and supporters. Pro-Israel donors include the Republican Jewish Coalition, JStreetPAC and Pro-Israel America PAC, as well as individuals. Pro-Israel donors have given $167 million to 4,989 Congressional candidates since 1990.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Open Secrets Pro-Israel funding for all Congressional candidates in the 2020 election cycle

Open Secrets Pro-Israel funding for Senate candidates in the 2020 election cycle

Federal Election Commission Who can and can't contribute

Open Secrets The pro-Israel lobby, a major force on American foreign affairs

Open Secrets Total pro-Israel donations to Congressional candidates, 1989 to 2020

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.