General U.S. NewsSep 3, 2026·3 min read

“Board of Peace” Billionaire Backs AIPAC Fund Targeting Pro-Palestine Candidates

The Intercept

3h ago

“Board of Peace” Billionaire Backs AIPAC Fund Targeting Pro-Palestine Candidates

Summary

Marc Rowan has a vision for Gaza. “The potential here is tremendous,” he said at a February gathering of President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace, where Rowan described land devastated by Israeli bombing with a developer’s zeal. “This is not a problem of money or collateral. This is a problem with peace.” In the U.S., Rowan is simultaneously helping ensure a pro-Israel political project has no problem with money. Since the start of this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings, the billionaire CEO of Apollo Global Management has donated $1.5 million to the United Democracy Project, a super PAC for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spending a fraction of his vast wealth to preserve a foreign policy defined by support for Israel’s genocide and the flow of U.S. weapons to Israel. “Palestinians did not choose him, and neither did American voters.” Rowan — who is worth more than $8 billion and reportedly consulted on his business with convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — is an executive member of Trump’s “Board of Peace,” a United Nations-approved body tasked with carrying out Trump’s stalled plan for Gaza. He made his first donation to UDP of the year in early March, giving $1 million, filings show, just as the group began spending aggressively against the now-ousted Rep. PAL PAC backed both El-Sayed and Bush, who have committed to cutting military aid to Israel. (El-Sayed prevailed in his Democratic Senate primary against Michigan Rep. In Congress, the lobbying giant has also worked to consolidate power among its pro-Israel base. By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Angie Craig in her failed Senate bid. Brian Mast , R-Fla., chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and former Israeli Defense Forces volunteer who famously wore his IDF uniform to Congress. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse.

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