The enduring myth that the Jews control the United States (and at times, the world) and are secretly dictating the course of history in a smoke-filled, kosher backroom, and it is gaining credence among both the left and the right in the toxic sewers of social media discourse.
Critics constantly point to AIPAC (which is, by law, not funded by the Israeli Government) as proof of a Jewish conspiracy to shape American politics. Ironically, AIPAC is not funded by the Israeli government: it is an American-funded 501(c)4 organization that, by law, can only be funded by US citizens and permanent residents.
However, among the top ten countries that spend money on influence, Israel comes in 10th, after countries such as China (1st), Saudi Arabia (4th), the United Arab Emirates (8th), and Qatar (9th). The Marshall Islands has spent more money that requires registration under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), at $382 million (5th), than Israel, at $215 million (10th), since 2016.
Here is a rundown of the nine countries that spend more money influencing US politics than Israel.
#1 China ($562 million)
There is virtually no disagreement that China is the greatest threat to American security in the 21st Century. China sees itself as the Middle Kingdom, a euphemism for being the center of the world. China has ambitions of conquest and wishes to annex territories from Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaya, and many others. The Chinese Communist Party’s eventual plans for an empire also look suspiciously similar to those of Japan in 1941.
China wishes to divide the United States, disrupt efforts to reshore American manufacturing and critical industries like rare earth elements, and foster a culture of isolationism. An America led by politicians who view Western civilization as inherently flawed, or who believe the nation should withdraw entirely from its global commitments, is precisely the kind of America the Chinese Communist Party desires. Furthermore, Beijing aggressively maneuvers to prevent the U.S. from regulating Chinese tech firms—companies bound by Chinese law to hand over user data, including the detailed consumer habits and video preferences of millions of Americans on platforms like TikTok. Ultimately, if any foreign adversary is actively trying to shape domestic American policy to its own advantage, it is not Israel; it is China. Beijing’s explicit objective is to surpass the United States in both prosperity and global power, reclaiming what it views as its rightful position as the center of the world.
#2 Japan ($504 million) & 6. South Korea ($363 million)
These two nations are grouped together because their lobbying footprints are nearly identical. Both are also formal military allies of the United States. Unlike our relationship with Israel, which relies on statutory requirements and informal agreements, the United States shares mutual defense treaties with Japan and South Korea that have been formally ratified by a two-thirds supermajority of the Senate. Under the U.S. Constitution, these ratified treaties carry the supreme force of federal law. To understand the critical difference this makes, look at the 1994 Budapest Memorandum signed by President Clinton regarding Ukraine. Because the U.S. wanted to avoid the strict constitutional hurdles of Senate ratification, the agreement was structured as a political memorandum offering ‘security assurances’ rather than a legally binding treaty. The result was effectively an informal gentleman’s agreement that carried no actual legal weight to compel U.S. military action when those borders were ultimately breached.
Japan and South Korea’s lobbying efforts involve what is best described as standard corporate lobbying coupled with maintaining vital defense coordination. Both nations are global economic heavyweights, and massive conglomerates like Toyota, Samsung, and SK Hynix lobby Washington in the exact same ways—and for the exact same trade advantages—as domestic U.S. technology and manufacturing firms. Crucially, this lobbying is entirely divorced from the sinister ambitions of China. Japan and South Korea view the United States as their primary security partner, not a geopolitical adversary to be subverted.
The U.S. benefits immensely from these partnerships by maintaining heavily armed, technologically advanced allies directly on the doorstep of China’s territorial ambitions. In a hypothetical Pacific conflict, a U.S.-led coalition would rely on Japan and South Korea to play the exact logistical role that Great Britain played in World War II: serving as massive, unsinkable bases from which American forces could stage, sustain, and project overwhelming combat power against the Chinese military.
#3 Liberia ($432 million) and #5 The Marshall Islands ($382 million)
Liberia and the Marshall Islands operate two of the three largest shipping registries on the planet (Panama being the other). Combined, they flag approximately a third of all commercial tonnage sailing the world’s oceans. They trigger FARA registration because neither Liberia nor the Marshall Islands administers these vast shipping fleets themselves: they outsource the operation to American firms based in Virginia. Every dollar spent on this administration—from employee wages to marketing to buying laptops—legally falls under FARA.
Certainly, a component of this involves politicians: they are still basically foreign businesses operating on U.S. soil, conducting corporate lobbying. However, they have done the exact opposite of what the conspiracy theories imply, and the opposite of what many American companies do: they have outsourced jobs to America, not the other way around. The U.S. and the Marshall Islands share a Compact of Free Association, wherein the U.S. provides economic assistance in exchange for exclusive military access to the islands. Liberia similarly enjoys vital trade agreements and active security cooperation with the U.S. military, though neither holds an Article VI mutual defense treaty. They are strategic, bureaucratic partners, not global puppet masters
#4 Saudi Arabia ($421 million), #8 United Arab Emirates ($269 million and #9 Qatar ($269 million)
Combined, the three major Gulf Monarchies on this list—Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE—have spent a staggering $959 million lobbying the United States since 2016. That means these three nations outspend the only Jewish nation in the world by a ratio of more than 4:1.
Unsurprisingly, this massive financial footprint is heavily tied to their desire to buy American arms as a deterrent against Iran (a Shia nation that these Sunni monarchies view as an existential threat), and to fund massive public relations campaigns to sanitize their global image. These regimes have a desperate need for Americans to ignore their horrific domestic records regarding the treatment of women, homosexuals, and religious minorities. Proselytizing Christianity is illegal in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Saudi Arabia openly bans the building of Christian churches entirely. In Qatar, they are heavily restricted, and in the UAE, they are confined to strictly designated zones.
Ultimately, if the political extremes in America are truly concerned about the disproportionate influence of foreign money dictating Washington’s policies, they need to stop conspiracies about Israel rooted in anti-Semitism and start looking at the actual balance sheets.
