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AIPAC

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File:GWBush speech to AIPAC May 2004.jpg
U.S. President George W. Bush addresses AIPAC members in Washington on May 18, 2004. To his right is AIPAC's executive director Howard Kohr and to his left is AIPAC president Bernice Manocherian.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a special interest group that lobbies the United States Government in favor of maintaining a close U.S. - Israel relationship. Describing itself as "America's Pro-Israel Lobby," it is a mass-membership organization including both Jews and non-Jews, and is considered one of the most powerful political lobbies in the United States.

History

Founded in 1953 by I.L. "Si" Kenen, AIPAC's original name was the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs. According to UCLA political science professor and author, Steven Spiegel, "the tension between the Eisenhower administration and Israeli supporters was so acute that there were rumors (unfounded as it turned out) that the administration would investigate the American Zionist Council. Therefore, an independent lobbying committee was formed, which years later was renamed [AIPAC]." [SPIEGEL, p. 52]. Today, AIPAC has over 100,000 members across 50 states.

Activities and stated goals

AIPAC's stated purpose is to lobby the Congress of the United States on issues and legislation that are in the best interests of Israel and the United States. It regularly meets with members of Congress and holds events where it can share its views. It also provides analysis of the voting records of U.S. federal representatives and senators with regard to how they voted on legislation related to Israel. AIPAC has been effective in gaining support for Israel among members of Congress and White House administrations.

The New York Times described AIPAC on July 6, 1987 as "a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle East." The article also stated that: "The organization has gained power to influence a presidential candidate's choice of staff, to block practically any arms sale to an Arab country, and to serve as a catalyst for intimate military relations between The Pentagon and the Israeli army. Its leading officials are consulted by State Department and White House policy makers, by senators and generals."

AIPAC's views of its strengths and achievements

AIPAC claims its strengths lie in its national membership base and great research capacity to understand both Israel's interest and the interests of other countries affecting US-Israel relationship around the world. Some of the achievements it claims [1] include:

  • Isolating Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad by advocating that the Administration place these groups on a more restrictive terrorist list, allowing the United States to sanction foreign financial institutions if they fail to block the organizations’ assets.
  • Disrupting Hamas financing by urging the Administration to freeze the assets of the U.S.-based Holy Land Foundation, which has been accused of funneling money to the Hamas organization.
  • Defending Israel from bomb attacks by securing $28 million for Israel to purchase American technology, including robots and scanners, designed to detect and neutralize bombs.

Successes

AIPAC advises members of Congress about the issues that face today's Middle East, including the dangers of extremism and terrorism. It was an early supporter of the Counter-Terrorism Act of 1995, which resulted in increased FBI resources being committed to fight terrorism, as well as expanded federal jurisdiction in prosecuting criminal activities related to terrorism.

AIPAC also supported the funding of a number of Israeli military projects that have resulted in many new additions to the arsenal of America's Armed Services. The Arrow anti-missile system is now the most advanced working anti-ballistic missile system in the world.

Martin Indyk research director at the AIPAC, founded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) think-tank in 1985.

AIPAC lobbies for financial aid from the United States to Israel, helping to procure nearly $3 billion in aid [1] with total aid since 1949 estimated at about $108 billion. [2]

Controversies

AIPAC has been connected to several controversial events.

In 1982, AIPAC was able to convince the US Congress and President Reagan to veto a French-supported UN resolution condemning the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon, which called for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from Lebanon to allow for the safe evacuation of Palestinians. This caused some critics in the media to argue that the "Reagan administration could not commit itself to concrete action to stop the killing in Lebanon". [3] The United States defended its vote stating that the proposed resolution would allow the PLO to retain its weapons during the evacuation, thus allowing it to potentially carry out attacks throughout the evacuation.

In 1992, AIPAC president David Steiner had to resign when he was tape recorded boasting about his political influence, saying he had "cut a deal" with the Bush administration to give more aid to Israel. He had arranged for "almost a billion dollars in other goodies," he added and was "negotiating" with the incoming Clinton administration over appointing a pro-Israeli Secretary of State. Steiner also stated AIPAC had "a dozen people in (the Clinton) headquarters. And they are all going to get big jobs."

Haim Katz told the Washington Times that he taped the conversation because "as someone Jewish, I am concerned when a small group has a disproportionate power. I think that hurts everyone, including Jews. If David Steiner wants to talk about the incredible, disproportionate clout AIPAC has, the public should know about it." [4]

Franklin, Rosen, Weissman

Main article: AIPAC espionage scandal
  • In May 2005, the Justice Department announced that Franklin had been arrested and charged with providing classified information about potential attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. The one-count criminal complaint did not identify AIPAC by name, but described a luncheon meeting in which, allegedly, Franklin disclosed top-secret information to two AIPAC officials.
  • In August 2005, former AIPAC policy director Steven Rosen and AIPAC senior Iran analyst Keith Weissman were indicted for illegally conspiring to gather and disclose classified national security information to Israel.
  • On January 20, 2006, Judge T. S. Ellis III sentenced Franklin to 151 months (almost 13 years) in prison and fined him $10,000.

Supporters

AIPAC has a wide base of supporters both in and outside of Congress. Support among congressional members includes a majority of members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties. One supporter, state Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia (a delegate to the 2004 AIPAC national convention in Washington, D.C.) said: "AIPAC plays valuable roles in expanding the pro-Israel communities in the United States, and in putting them in touch with those who influence the direction of American foreign policy. AIPAC is a diverse, broad-based organization which seeks to synthesize the views of its backers with objective information to pursue the advocacy of policies that benefit both the United States and Israel. No organization can better articulate the American interests in a strong U.S.-Israel military alliance than AIPAC can."

President George W. Bush, addressing AIPAC members in Washington on May 18, 2004, stated: "AIPAC is doing important work. In Washington and beyond, AIPAC is calling attention to the great security challenges of our time. You've always understood and warned against the evil ambition of terrorism and their networks. In a dangerous new century, your work is more vital than ever."

Critics

AIPAC also has critics, including former United States Representative Paul Findley, United States Representative Dave Obey, United States Representative Cynthia McKinney and journalist Alexander Cockburn of CounterPunch. Cockburn and McKinney claim that AIPAC was instrumental in helping to defeat Congressional candidates that AIPAC deemed unfriendly to Israel, Representative McKinney of Georgia (after her first term as a Representative) and former Representative Earl F. Hilliard of Alabama. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Other critics, such as Representative Dave Obey, of Wisconsin, contend that AIPAC primarily reflects the right-wing Likud's positions, rather than representing those of more left-wing Israeli political parties, such as the Labor Party.[11] [6] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] For critics, the relationship between AIPAC and the Israeli government raises other concerns. AIPAC is not registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) [17], which requires those who receive funds or act on behalf of a foreign government to register. While AIPAC maintains that it receives no funds or directions from the State of Israel, past critics, such as former American Senator William Fulbright and former senior CIA official Victor Marchetti, contended that AIPAC should have registered. The recent AIPAC espionage scandal has increased attention to FARA's possible applicability to AIPAC. [18]

Hedrick Smith claimed in his book The Power Game: How Washington Works that AIPAC had become a superlobby: "[It] gained so much political muscle that by 1985 AIPAC and its allies could force President Reagan to renege on an arms deal he had promised to [Jordan's] King Hussein. By 1986, the pro-Israel lobby could stop Reagan from making another jet fighter deal with Saudi Arabia, and Secretary of State George Shultz had to sit down with AIPAC's executive director -- not Congressional leaders -- to find out what level of arms sales to the Saudis AIPAC would tolerate".

In the working paper The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt accuse AIPAC of being "the most powerful and best known" organisation in a pro-Israel lobby that, they say, distorts American foreign policy.

Michael Massing discusses the activities of AIPAC in his essay "The Storm over the Israel Lobby" in The New York Review of Books. [19]

In 2006, the New York Review of Books published a letter from United States Representative Betty McCollum to AIPAC executive director Howard Kohr. In the letter, McCollum demands an apology for an AIPAC lobbyist's comment that "on behalf of herself, the Jewish community, AIPAC, and the voters of the Fourth District, Congresswoman McCollum's support for terrorists will not be tolerated." McCollum states that AIPAC representatives will not be allowed in her office until she receives a written apology for the comments. The incident arose after Representative McCollum decided not to vote for H.R. 4681, a controversial bill supported by AIPAC. [20]

The Economist magazine claimed AIPAC's political power is the one of the main reasons for America's support of Israel. "Why is America so much more pro-Israeli than Europe? The most obvious answer lies in the power of two very visible political forces: the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) and the religious right." [21]

References

  1. ^ a b AIPAC:Who we are.
  2. ^ A Conservative Estimate of Total Direct U.S. Aid to Israel: $108 Billion, Shirl McArthur. Washington Report, July 2006, pages 16-17.
  3. ^ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0377-919X%28198222%2F23%2911%3A4%3C241%3AWILITS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 War in Lebanon Israeli Terror-US Silence. Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 11, No. 4, Special Issue: The War in Lebanon (Summer - Autumn, 1982), pp. 241-248]
  4. ^ [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1292/9212069b.html AIPAC President Resigns, Sheldon L. Richman, December/January 1992/93, Page 69.
  5. ^ Cockburn, Alexander. From Cynthia McKinney to Katha Pollitt, to the ILWU to Paul Krugman, CounterPunch, August 21, 2002. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  6. ^ a b Muwakkil, Salim. The warp factor of the Israeli lobby, Chicago Tribune, July 1, 2002. Accessed on http://www.obermayer.us/, March 26, 2006.
  7. ^ Nigut, Bill. Deconstructing Cynthia McKinney, Atlanta Jewish Times, November 5, 1999. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  8. ^ McKinney. Cynthia Ann McKinney: The Voice of the Voiceless, Campaign Web Site. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  9. ^ Hughes, William. McKinney's Defeat: Undue Meddling, CounterPunch, September 5, 2002. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  10. ^ Madsen, Wayne. Crushing Congressional Dissent: The Fall of Hilliard, Barr and McKinney, CounterPunch, August 22, 2002. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  11. ^ Edsall, Thomas B. and Moore, Molly. Pro-Israel Lobby Has Strong Voice. The Washington Post, September 5, 2004. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  12. ^ Zogby, James. Is AIPAC in Trouble? Part IV: The Problems Within the Lobby and the Jewish Community, Arab American Institute, August 30, 1993. Accessed March 27, 2006.
  13. ^ Ticker, Bruce. AIPAC Charges Offer Opportunity, Philadelphia Jewish Voice, September 2005. Accessed March 27, 2006.
  14. ^ Rozen, Laura and Vest, Jason. Cloak and Swagger, The American Prospect, November 2, 2004. Accessed March 27, 2006.
  15. ^ Nir, Ori. Questions raised over AIPAC's tactics, The Forward, September 3, 2004. Accessed March 27, 2006.
  16. ^ Dorf, Matthew. After Barak win, AIPAC reverses opposition to a Palestinian state, The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, May 28, 1999. Accessed March 27, 2006.
  17. ^ Foreign Agents Registration Unit (FARA) Counterespionage Section, Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Accessed March 28, 2006.
  18. ^ Nir, Ori. Leaders Fear Probe Will Force Pro-Israel Lobby To File as ‘Foreign Agent' Could Fuel Dual Loyalty Talk. The Forward. December 21, 2004. Accessed March 28, 2006.
  19. ^ Massing, Michael, "The Storm over the Israel Lobby", The New York Review of Books, Volume 53, Number 10 · June 8, 2006.
  20. ^ Betty McCollum, A Letter to AIPAC, "New York Review of Books", Volume 53, Number 10 · 8 June 2006, with an introduction by Michael Massing.
  21. ^ "To Israel with love". The Economist. Aug 3rd, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to AIPAC.
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