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. 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. Guest: Jonathan Mahler (https://www.nytimes.com/by/jonathan-mahler) , a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine covering a wide range of topics, including politics, entertainment, education, media, the law and sports. Background reading:  • AIPAC wants Democrats to back Israel. Instead, they’re turning on the group (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/magazine/aipac-democrats-israel.html) . Photo: Cheriss May/Sipa, via Associated Press Images For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.