Editing AIPAC (section)

===Formation (1953–1970s)===
Journalist and lawyer [[Isaiah L. Kenen]] founded the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs (AZCPA) as a lobbying division of the [[American Zionist Council]] (AZC), and they split in 1954.<ref name="Rossinow 2018 pp. 23–43" /> Kenen, a lobbyist for the Israeli government,<ref name="TG1">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/22/aipac-pro-israel-lobby-group-us-elections|title=The pro-Israel groups planning to spend millions in US elections|work=The Guardian|date=22 April 2024|accessdate=26 June 2024}}</ref> had at earlier times worked for the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]. As a lobbyist, Kenen diverged from AZC's usual public relations efforts by trying to broaden support for Israel among traditionally non-Zionist groups. The founding of the new organization was in part a response to the negative international reaction to the October 1953 [[Qibya massacre]], in which Israeli troops under [[Ariel Sharon]] killed at least sixty-nine Palestinian villagers, two-thirds of them women and children.<ref name="Rossinow 2018 pp. 23–43"/> As the Eisenhower administration suspected the AZC of being funded by the government of Israel, it was decided that the lobbying efforts should be separated into a separate organization with separate finances.<ref name="Rossinow 2018 pp. 23–43"/>

In 1959, AZCPA was renamed the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, reflecting a broader membership and mission.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rossinow |first1=Doug |title="The Edge of the Abyss": The Origins of the Israel Lobby, 1949–1954 |journal=Modern American History |date=2018 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=23–43 |quote=In 1959, the AZCPA was renamed AIPAC, 'Israel' replacing 'Zionist.' The new name acknowledged ostensibly non-Zionist participants in the committee.... American Jews redefined Zionism to mean providing staunch and generally unquestioning support for the State of Israel, so long as the leaders of Jewish Israel maintained respect for the legitimacy and integrity of American Jewry as a Jewish community.|doi=10.1017/mah.2017.17 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-american-history/article/edge-of-the-abyss-the-origins-of-the-israel-lobby-19491954/E1690BDB5CA87C66B2B65D12CA1D716A |language=en |issn=2515-0456}}</ref><ref name="Wertheimer95">{{cite journal |last1=Wertheimer |first1=Jack |title=Jewish Organizational Life in the United States Since 1945 |journal=[[The American Jewish Year Book]] |date=1995 |volume=95 |pages=3–98}}</ref> Kenen led the organization until his retirement in 1974, when he was succeeded by [[Morris J. Amitay]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Langer |first=Emily |date=February 13, 2023 |title=Morris Amitay, ardent advocate for Israel, dies at 86 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/13/morris-amitay-aipac-israel-dead/ |access-date=August 8, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> According to commentator [[M.J. Rosenberg]], Kenen was "an old-fashioned liberal," who did not seek to win support by donating to campaigns or otherwise influencing elections, but was willing to "play with the hand that is dealt to us."<ref name=bruck-53>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|page=53|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014}}</ref>