Oxford Journal Study Debunks Antisemitic JFK-AIPAC Assassination Theory
Oxford University Press journal publishes new analysis finding no evidence that AIPAC or any pro-Israel group was linked to Kennedy’s assassination
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A new academic study published in Modern Judaism, an Oxford University Press journal, finds no evidence for an antisemitic conspiracy theory claiming that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was involved in President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. The theory gained traction online around the March 2025 release of JFK assassination records, falsely alleging that AIPAC orchestrated Kennedy’s murder to avoid being forced to register as a foreign agent.
The study, authored by Kobby Barda, examines the 1963 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings led by Senator J. William Fulbright and concludes that the available record contains “no evidence whatsoever linking AIPAC, its leadership, or any pro-Israel group to the assassination.”
The conspiracy theory hinges on temporal proximity: In 1963, Fulbright’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee examined the Jewish Agency’s U.S. activities, its relationship with the American Zionist Council, and whether payments connected to Isaiah Kenen’s Near East Report raised FARA-registration issues for the pro-Israel organizational network.
Three months later, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Antisemitic conspiracy theorists have since claimed AIPAC orchestrated the killing to prevent regulatory action against the broader pro-Israel organizational network.
What the Declassified Files Actually Reveal
Barda’s study argues that the available archival record contains no evidence linking AIPAC, its leadership, or any pro-Israel group to Kennedy’s assassination. The declassified materials that conspiracy theorists promoted as potential proof contain no connection to Kennedy’s death, according to multiple independent analyses. One widely circulated claim cited a 1954 memo about CIA officer James Angleton’s work with Israeli intelligence, which predated the assassination by nearly a decade and contained no relevant information.
The Fulbright hearings focused on whether the American Zionist Council served as a “conduit” for the Jewish Agency, which Fulbright considered an arm of the Israeli government. Between 1955 and 1962, the AZC received $1.5 million from the Jewish Agency. Of particular interest to investigators: $38,000 the Jewish Agency paid for subscriptions to the Near East Report, a newsletter founded by Kenen that became a key information source for members of Congress and journalists covering Middle Eastern affairs.
The FARA Question: Examining the Organizational Structure
The hearings examined Kenen’s dual role as executive director of AIPAC, originally organized as the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs (AZPAC) and his financial relationship with the AZC. Kenen testified in a written affidavit that he ceased working for the AZC in July 1960, ending his $100-per-week salary as a lecturer. AZC purchases of Near East Report subscriptions ended in 1962, before the hearings began on August 2, 1963.
Barda’s research examined whether the organizational relationships required FARA registration by analyzing four questions: whether AIPAC operated under Israeli government control, whether the Near East Report served as a money-laundering mechanism, whether AIPAC functioned independently from the AZC and Jewish Agency, and whether intentional coordination existed to circumvent registration requirements.
The study found that subscriptions purchased by the AZC never exceeded 23% of the Near East Report‘s total circulation at its peak, indicating the publication operated with diverse revenue sources. A 1957 report shows Kenen actively pursuing individual subscriptions and organizational sales to groups like the Histadrut labor federation, treating the newsletter as a commercial product rather than a funding conduit.
The Case for FARA Registration
Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, has argued that AIPAC should register as a foreign agent based on the 1963 hearings. Smith’s research, which helped declassify the hearing transcripts through transparency laws, contends the Jewish Agency’s funding of AZC activities—including the $38,000 for Near East Report subscriptions—constituted foreign government support that mandated FARA registration for organizations in the network.
During the hearings, Senator Fulbright questioned Jewish Agency director Isadore Hamlin about the payment structure. When Fulbright asked why $38,000 went to the Near East Report, Hamlin insisted the agency paid the AZC for subscriptions, not Kenen directly. Fulbright’s sarcastic response—”You are geniuses, far beyond any person I have ever seen”—suggested skepticism about the organizational separation.
Barda’s study found evidence of institutional independence: AIPAC was established in March 1954 with its own leadership structure, including representatives from Hadassah, Hapoel Hamizrachi, the Labor Zionist Organization, and other groups. The organization also demonstrated policy independence from Israeli government preferences, including a documented 1952 instance when Kenen rejected Ambassador Abba Eban’s recommendation for direct earmarked aid, favoring instead a broader regional approach to secure congressional support.
Why This Conspiracy Theory Emerged Now
Unlike traditional JFK assassination theories involving the CIA, mafia, or anti-Castro Cubans—which emerged in the 1960s—the AIPAC theory appeared decades later in the social media age. The conspiracy gained traction specifically around the March 2025 release of declassified files, with antisemites searching documents “for any mention of Jews or Israel being involved.”
Another recurring claim cites a JFK record involving Homer S. Echevarria, a Cuban exile involved in illegal-arms discussions, whose reported remark about “new backers” has been used online to imply Jewish involvement. But the House Select Committee on Assassinations treated the episode as part of anti-Castro Cuban threat leads, not as evidence of AIPAC, Israeli, or Jewish involvement in Kennedy’s murder.
AIPAC’s Strategic Founding
Kenen founded AIPAC with a deliberate strategy to avoid FARA registration. He established the organization as a non-profit ineligible for tax-deductible donations—allowing it to register as a domestic lobbying group rather than a foreign agent. The founding principle: “Embassies talked to the State Department, and American voters talked to their congressman. An American lobbyist should work for an American Organization.”
The Barda study concludes that AIPAC continued operating as a domestic lobbying organization without registering under FARA, directly contradicting the conspiracy theory’s premise that the organization faced imminent loss of its lobbying license in 1963.