Several leading Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups are expressing concerns about the impact of the recent rise in antisemitic and Islamist messaging out of Saudi Arabia, as the Gulf kingdom’s rhetoric is increasingly raising questions about its standing as a reliable U.S. ally in the region.

In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has ratcheted up its anti-Israel rhetoric through state-sanctioned media and other regime mouthpieces, amid a widening rift with the United Arab Emirates and closer alignment with Islamist-oriented forces that are hostile toward Israel, such as Turkey and Qatar. 

The new posturing, part of a broader pivot from what national security experts had seen as Saudi Arabia’s moderating influence in the region, has fueled surprise and frustration among Jewish American advocacy organizations that have pushed for the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel, an objective now regarded in some circles as unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Last week, the Anti-Defamation League said in a sharply worded social media statement that it was “alarmed by the increasing frequency and volume of prominent Saudi voices — analysts, journalists and preachers — using openly antisemitic dog whistles and aggressively pushing anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric, often while peddling conspiracy theories about ‘Zionist plots.’”

“This is harmful on many levels, diminishing the prospect of peaceful coexistence in the region and weakening regional initiatives promoting tolerance, understanding and prosperity,” the ADL added.

The pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, for its part, amplified a recent X post by Barak Ravid, a global affairs correspondent for Axios, who flagged what he called Saudi Arabia’s “information war against the UAE” and said “the Saudi press is full of articles that include anti-Israeli conspiracies, anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric and even antisemitic language.”

In a statement to Jewish Insider on Monday, Deryn Sousa, a spokesperson for AIPAC, emphasized that “America would be stronger and our interests would be better served if more nations, including Saudi Arabia, joined the Abraham Accords and worked together with our democratic ally Israel to promote regional peace, security and prosperity.”

Brian Romick, the president and CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, echoed that sentiment, calling the Abraham Accords “a landmark diplomatic achievement” whose expansion, “especially through Saudi-Israeli normalization, should be a bipartisan pillar of U.S. policy.”

“A breakthrough between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be the most consequential step the region can take toward lasting peace, security, and prosperity, and the Trump administration should pursue it relentlessly while linking any upgrade in the relationship to measurable progress toward Saudi-Israeli normalization,” Romick said in a statement to JI. “Despite recent political frictions and unhelpful rhetoric, deep mutual interests in security, economic integration and technology make normalization an enduring strategic imperative.”

The American Jewish Committee, which has also promoted Saudi participation in the Accords, said it is “keeping a close eye on any developments” tied to the kingdom’s shift, but declined further comment.

While experts have linked Saudi Arabia’s recent animus toward Israel to such issues as the war in Gaza, Israeli recognition of Somaliland and unrest in Iran, Michael Makovsky, the president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, suggested that one unexplored motivating factor may be the Trump administration’s friendly relations with Islamist leaders in Turkey, Qatar and Syria.

“It sends a signal to the Saudis that you could take more Islamist positions, and it won’t hurt you with the United States,” Makovsky said in an interview with JI on Monday, arguing the administration will need to “reorient” its engagement in the region if it wants to help shape Saudi policies to align more closely with American interests.

But Makovsky said he has not seen interest among Trump officials in pursuing that path — even as the administration has long encouraged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords.

“I think the administration needs to step back and reflect on the fact that, if the Saudis are acting like this now, and they’ve been more of a moderating influence,” he said, “it should lead to a rethink of how they’re approaching all these other countries.”

The latest round of fundraising reports filed by leading pro-Israel advocacy groups suggests that they are in strong financial shape as the midterms come into view, even as some of the top pro-Israel candidates have underperformed with their fundraising in key races.

United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, raised $13.5 million in the first half of 2025, according to its mid-year fundraising report filed late last week, with nearly $39 million on hand at the end of June.

Those figures were far higher than the $8.8 million in contributions the group had pulled in during the same six-month period in 2023, at the beginning of the last election cycle. The group, which ultimately raised much more in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, had $9 million on hand at the time, federal filings show.

Among the top donors to UDP this cycle are Blair Frank, a portfolio manager at Capital Group, who gave $1.5 million — marking the only seven-figure contribution. The Kraft Group, a holding company led by Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, gave $500,000 — as did four other donors including Sanford Grossman, Michael Leffell, David Messer and Andrew Schwartzberg, according to the new filings.

Meanwhile, AIPAC’s bipartisan political action committee, which has yet to issue endorsements in a range of key House and Senate races, raised $2.6 million last month — and was sitting on nearly $14 million at the end of June, its latest monthly filing shows. By contrast, the group had raked in around $1.5 million in June 2023, with nearly $1.4 million on hand.

The fundraising indicates that pro-Israel donors are being driven to contribute amid a new shift in which a growing number of Democratic lawmakers, as well as some Republicans, have endorsed blocking aid to Israel over its handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That trend has coincided with the Democratic nomination of Zohran Mamdani, an avowed critic of Israel, in New York City’s mayoral race, opening up an ongoing debate over the party’s future direction. 

Marshall Wittmann, an AIPAC spokesperson, said in a statement that “grassroots pro-Israel activists are deeply engaged in the political process given the critical importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship as the Jewish state battles aggression from Iran and its terrorist proxies.”

“As the 2026 midterm elections approach, that increased involvement will ensure that the voice of the pro-Israel community will be heard,” Wittmann told Jewish Insider on Monday. 

On the Democratic, rather than bipartisan, side of the equation, DMIF PAC, Democratic Majority for Israel’s political arm, reported raising $2.1 million so far this year, with $2.6 million on hand heading into July. 

While the group’s latest cash haul was buoyed largely by a single $2 million contribution from Deborah Simon, a pro-Israel donor in Indiana, its new filing indicates a healthier financial situation than its last mid-year report in 2023, when DMFI PAC pulled in just over $700,000 during the first six months of that year, with only a small amount more in reserve funds.

DMFI PAC, which worked alongside UDP to unseat two Squad-aligned Israel critics in House races last cycle, has not yet announced endorsements in next year’s primaries.

Despite relatively robust fundraising for the two groups, such donor enthusiasm has yet to translate to some key races in which pro-Israel candidates are lagging behind their opponents. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), a longtime ally of AIPAC who is running for Senate, was recently outraised by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul el-Sayed, an outspoken critic of Israel. And in an open-seat House primary in the Chicago suburbs, Laura Fine, a state senator who is touting her pro-Israel positions, fell well behind her two left-leaning rivals.

One prominent pro-Israel activist who is close to AIPAC, speaking on the condition of anonymity to address what he called an “undeniable shift” in the Democratic Party on Israel, said he was unfazed by such fundraising at this stage of the primary cycle — noting that Stevens in particular has a “reservoir of support that is out there waiting” within the Jewish and pro-Israel communities.

“We are committed to the cause which we think is deeply in America’s interest, and we’re not going to give up,” he told JI. “People like us are just going to get more animated by this, not scared off.”