The American Israel Public Affairs Committee
Other Arab nations vs. Israel Brief history Other Arab nations vs. Israel The Arab nations are represented by 21 separate countries. There is only one Jewish nation with a tiny country, Israel.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is, in essence, a conflict over territory. Although religion plays a role in the conflict to a lesser extent.
As the US was involved with the formation of Israel, the two nations have remained allies. The main form of Congressional support for Israel has been foreign aid. Since 1985, it has provided nearly $3 billion in grants annually to Israel, with Israel being the largest annual recipient of American aid from 1976 to 2004. Almost all U.S. aid to Israel is now in the form of military assistance, while in the past it also received significant economic assistance.
However, the US-Israel relationship isn’t one where Israel benefits exclusively, others point out that Israel is a strategic ally, and that U.S. relations with Israel strengthen the U.S. presence in the Middle East. After all, the Middle East is where America locates some of its oil.
So what it is the purpose of the AIPAC? How does the AIPAC work? It is a membership pressure group, with just over 100,000 members. Members provide a proportion of their overall funds. The AIPAC organisation is both a pressure group and lobbying firm. The hire and train their own lobbyists. They lobby Congress on their behalf and no other groups. They have ten offices around the country. Employees attempt to find new ways to mobilise support from ordinary people (often through grassroot activities). As mentioned in the video, AIPAC does not endorse or denounce individual congressional or presidential candidates. They lobby and work with Democrats, Senators and Independents in both Houses’.
They have meetings with the executive branch and President Obama himself, to discuss the direction of Israeli policy. They hold annual policy conferences, where the state of Israel is discussed, what they’d like to achieve, analysis of congressional support and just another way to entice members and supporters, including Congress members like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. They work with young students around the country, through workshops etc to mobilise more support.
“Four years ago, I stood before you and said that, "Israel's security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable.”” “Because of our cooperation, citizens in both our countries have benefited from the bonds that bring us together”. “I have a policy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And as I have made clear time and again during the course of my presidency, I will not hesitate to use force when it is necessary to defend the United States, Israel and [our nations] interests”.
AIPAC’s significance and achievements It has been described as one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington, DC. Its critics have stated it acts as an agent of the Israeli government with a "stranglehold" on the United States Congress. from this we can conclude that the main access point is Congress. Some have said it might as well be a congressional standing committee.
Through lobbying over the many years of their existence, they have convinced Congress to allocate approx. $3 billion to the Israeli government. *Congress keeps a close eye on the Israeli government’s expenditure. Achieving passage of more than a dozen bills and resolutions that have imposed tough sanctions on Iran during the past 15 years. Have helped initiate two notable peace talks between the US, Israel and Middle East.