Editing AIPAC (section)

==Aims, activities, size, and successes==

AIPAC's stated purpose is to lobby the [[Congress of the United States]] on issues and legislation related to Israel. AIPAC regularly meets with members of Congress and holds events where it can share its views.

===Size===
As of early 2019, AIPAC had 17 regional and satellite offices and a new headquarters on [[K Street (Washington, D.C.)|K Street]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Stolberg-too-powerful-4-3-2019"/> AIPAC spent $3.5 million on lobbying in 2018, a relatively large sum in the realm of foreign policy (more than 10 times [[J Street (advocacy group)|J Street]]'s lobbying expenditure),<ref name=Ygl19/> but less than many industry lobby groups, according to [[OpenSecrets]], with the top 15 such groups in the US all spending over $15 million.<ref name=Ros19>{{cite web |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-influential-is-aipac |title=How Influential Is AIPAC? Less Than Beer Sellers, Public Accountants, and Toyota|publisher=[[Tablet Magazine]]|first=Armin|last=Rosen|date=6 March 2019}}</ref> It has also been noted that, simple dollar value comparisons aside, AIPAC has "a somewhat unique model" that often begins donating early in careers of politicians with "long-term promise".<ref name=Ros19/> AIPAC also commits to spending on a variety of "less formal means of influence-peddling", such as luxury flights and accommodation for congress members.<ref name=Ygl19/> In addition to lobbying, AIPAC has [[#Political Action Committee|affiliated political action committees]] which spend millions of dollars on political campaigns.<ref name=McG170522/><ref>{{cite news |first1=Karen |last1=Zamora |first2=Jeanette |last2=Woods |first3=Ailsa |last3=Chang |title=Why Pro-Israel PACs are helping oust Democrats in their primaries |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/08/07/nx-s1-5066702/why-pro-israel-pacs-are-helping-oust-democrats-in-their-primaries |date=2024-08-07 |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=NPR News}}</ref>

===Generating support among policymakers===
[[File:Secretary Pompeo Delivers a Speech at AIPAC (49611582676).jpg|thumb|US secretary of state [[Mike Pompeo]] speaks at the AIPAC 2020 Policy Conference.]]
[[Thomas Dine]] developed a network to reach every member of congress. American Jews, the "vital core" of AIPAC membership,<ref name=bruck-core>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|page=52 column 3|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014}}</ref> made up less than 3% of the U.S. population and was concentrated in only nine states.<ref name=bruck-3percent>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|page=54 column 1|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014}}</ref> Today, thousands of AIPAC supporters gather at AIPAC's annual Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. every year. Donors and VIPs are invited to the Leadership Reception on the final night of the conference, which hosts hundreds of members of Congress.<ref name="nation20190214">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/aipac-omar-israel-congress-anti-semitism/|title=This Is How AIPAC Really Works|last=Rosenberg|first=M. J.|journal=The Nation|date=2019-02-14|access-date=2019-10-20|language=en-US|issn=0027-8378|archive-date=June 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603185737/https://www.thenation.com/article/aipac-omar-israel-congress-anti-semitism/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

AIPAC has created "caucuses" in every [[congressional district]], with AIPAC staffers organizing every district's Jewish community, regardless of size. Campaign contributions were bundled and distributed to candidates in congressional districts and where they would do some good. According to journalist Connie Bruck, by the end of the 1980s, there were "dozens" of political action committees with no formal relation to AIPAC, but whose leader was often an AIPAC member.<ref name="bruck-3percent" /> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' reports that in 1987 at least 51 of 80 pro-Israel PACs were operated by AIPAC officials.<ref>''The Wall Street Journal'', June 24, 1987, p.1</ref><ref name="Thomas-100">{{cite book|last1=Thomas|first1=Michael|title=American Policy Toward Israel: The Power and Limits of Beliefs |publisher=Routledge |page=100|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dc2TAgAAQBAJ&q=PACs+of++AIPAC+members&pg=PA100|isbn=978-1-135-98345-1}}</ref> Some committees that "operate independently" of AIPAC but "whose missions and membership align" with it include the Florida Congressional Committee, NORPAC in [[New Jersey]], To Protect Our Heritage PAC near [[Chicago]], and the [[Maryland]] Association for Concerned Citizens near [[Baltimore]].<ref name="Stolberg-too-powerful-4-3-2019" />

''[[The Washington Post]]'' states that "its Web site, which details how members of Congress voted on AIPAC's key issues, and the ''AIPAC Insider'', a glossy periodical that handicaps close political races, are scrutinized by thousands of potential donors. Pro-Israel interests have contributed $56.8 million in individual, group, and [[soft money]] donations to federal candidates and party committees since 1990, according to the non-partisan [[OpenSecrets]]. Between the 2000 and the 2004 elections, the 50 members of AIPAC's board donated an average of $72,000 each to campaigns and political action committees."<ref name="Post-friendship">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071201627_pf.html|title=A Beautiful Friendship?|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Glenn|last=Frankel|date=July 16, 2006|access-date=June 30, 2024}}</ref> According to Dine, in the 1980s and 1990s contributions from AIPAC members often constituted "roughly 10 to 15% of a typical congressional campaign budget."<ref name=bruck/>

AIPAC influences lawmakers in other ways by:
*matching an AIPAC member with shared interests to a member of Congress.<ref name=bruck-expenses>{{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|quote=AIPAC representatives tried to match each member of Congress with a contact who shared the congressman's interests. If a member of Congress rode a Harley-Davidson, AIPAC found a contact who did, too. The goal was to develop people who could get a member of Congress on the phone at a moment's notice.}}</ref> Sheryl Gay Stolberg calls the system of "key contacts" AIPAC's "secret" and quotes activist Tom Dine as saying that AIPAC's office can call on "five to 15" key contacts for every senator including "standoffish" ones.<ref name="Stolberg-too-powerful-4-3-2019"/>
*carefully curated trips to Israel for legislators and other opinion-makers, all-expenses-paid for by AIPAC's charitable arm, the American Israel Education Foundation.<ref name=bruck-expenses2>{{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|quote=Soon after taking office, Baird went on a "virtually obligatory" trip to Israel: a freshman ritual in which everything—business-class flights, accommodations at the King David or the Citadel—is paid for by AIPAC's charitable arm. The tours are carefully curated. "They do have you meet with the Palestinian leaders, in a sort of token process", Baird said. "But then when you're done with it, they tell you everything the Palestinian leaders said that's wrong. And, of course, the Palestinians don't get to have dinner with you at the hotel that night."}}</ref> In 2005 alone, more than 100 members of Congress visited Israel, some multiple times.<ref>Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 13, 2006</ref>
*cultivating student leaders such as student body presidents.<ref name=bruck-student>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|page=54|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014|quote=local AIPAC staffers, in the manner of basketball recruiters, befriend some members when they are still serving on the student council. "If you have a dream about running for office, AIPAC calls you", one House member said. Certainly, it's a rarity when someone undertakes a campaign for the House or the Senate today without hearing from AIPAC.}}</ref> At colleges, it provides "political leadership training" to undergraduate student groups. This is an effort to "build a stronger pro-Israel movement among students on and off campuses nationwide."<ref name=Usa>{{cite book|last1=Usa|first1=Ibp|title=Jewish Lobby in the United States Handbook: Organization, Operations ...|publisher=International Business Publications.|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPsrxlF18_UC&q=AIPAC+provides+political+leadership+training+to+undergraduate+student+groups&pg=PA26|isbn=978-1-4387-2611-3|date=June 2, 2019}}</ref>
*sympathy for Israel among the general public.<ref name=bruck-unlocked>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|pages=50–63|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014|quote=In the early days, Howard Berman said, "AIPAC was knocking on an unlocked door." Most Americans have been favorably disposed toward Israel since its founding, and no other lobby spoke for them on a national scale. Unlike other lobbies—such as the N.R.A., which is opposed by various anti-gun groups—AIPAC did not face a significant and well-funded countervailing force.}}</ref>

AIPAC has supported loyal incumbents (such as Senator [[Lowell P. Weicker Jr.]], R-[[Connecticut]]) even when opposed by Jewish candidates, and the organization has worked to unseat pro-Palestinian incumbents (such as Representative [[Paul Findley]]) or candidates perceived to be unsympathetic to Israel (Senator [[Charles H. Percy]]).<ref name=bruck/> However, a Jewish member of Congress, Representative [[Jan Schakowsky]] (D-Illinois), who had maintained good relations with AIPAC and had been given campaign contributions by its members, was opposed by the group in her 2010 reelection campaign after she was endorsed by the advocacy group [[J Street (advocacy group)|J Street]].<ref name=bruck/>

According to former representative [[Brian Baird]] (D-[[Washington (state)|Washington]]), "Any member of Congress knows that AIPAC is associated indirectly with significant amounts of campaign spending if you're with them, and significant amounts against you if you're not with them." "AIPAC-connected money" amounted to about $200,000 in each of his campaigns for office—"and that's two hundred thousand going your way, versus the other way: a four-hundred-thousand-dollar swing."<ref name=bruck-p58>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|page=58 column 1|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014}}</ref> AIPAC-directed campaign contributions—as with many interest groups—came with considerable "tactical input". AIPAC staffers told Baird and other lawmakers, "No, we don't say it that way, we say it this way." Baird complained, "There's a whole complex semantic code you learn. ... After a while, you find yourself saying and repeating it as if it were fact."<ref name="bruck" />

===Goals===

AIPAC strongly supports substantial [[US aid to Israel|U.S. aid to Israel]]. In March 2009, AIPAC executive director Howard Kohr appeared before the [[United States House Committee on Appropriations|House Committee on Appropriations]]' [[United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs|Foreign Operations subcommittee]] and requested that Israel receive $2.775 billion in military aid in fiscal year 2010, as called for in the 2007 [[Memorandum of understanding|Memorandum of Understanding]] between the U.S. and Israel that allocates $30 billion in aid for Israel over 10 years. Kohr stated that "American assistance to Israel serves vital U.S. national security interests and advances critical U.S. foreign policy goals." The military hardware Israel must purchase to face the increased threat of terrorism and Islamist radicalism is increasingly expensive due to the recent spike in petroleum prices which have enabled countries such as Iran to augment their military budgets, according to Kohr.<ref name=Usa/><ref>[http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/27/1004048/aipac-head-testifies-on-israel-aid AIPAC head testifies on Israel aid] by Eric Fingerhut, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), March 27, 2009.</ref>

===The Iraq War===

The day after [[George W. Bush]] addressed the [[United Nations General Assembly]] to call for [[2003 invasion of Iraq|action against Iraq]], AIPAC said to the [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] that "[i]f the president asks Congress to support action in Iraq, AIPAC would lobby members of Congress to support him."<ref name="AIPACIraqStatement">{{cite news |last1=Berger |first1=Matthew E. |title=Jewish Groups Laud Bush's Words in Clearest Statement Yet on Iraq |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-groups-laud-bushs-words-in-clearest-statement-yet-on-iraq |access-date=June 30, 2024 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=September 13, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226063922/https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-groups-laud-bushs-words-in-clearest-statement-yet-on-iraq |archive-date=December 26, 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> [[John Judis]] wrote in ''[[The New Republic]]'' that although AIPAC lobbying was not widely reported to prevent Arab states from connecting Bush's war plans to Israel, executive director Kohr called {{"'}}quietly' lobbying Congress to [[Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002|approve the use of force in Iraq]]" one of AIPAC's successes at a January 2003 AIPAC meeting. AIPAC spokesman Josh Block told ''The New Republic'' that AIPAC did no lobbying and that Kohr was misquoted.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Judis |first1=John B. |title=Moran Down |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/61979/moran-down |access-date=June 30, 2024 |magazine=The New Republic |date=October 1, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930033506/https://newrepublic.com/article/61979/moran-down |archive-date=September 30, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> In articles for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', both [[Dana Milbank]] and [[Glenn Frankel]] noted that while AIPAC, like the Israeli government, officially had no position on the merits of going to war with Iraq, Bush administration officials were applauded at AIPAC events for defending the [[Iraq War]].<ref name="Milbank">{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A63578-2003Mar31?language=printer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604191400/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A63578-2003Mar31?language=printer |archive-date=2012-06-04 |title=For Israel Lobby Group, War Is Topic A, Quietly|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Dana|last=Milbank|date=April 1, 2003|access-date=June 30, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Post-friendship" /> [[Jeffrey Goldberg]] reported in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' that AIPAC had lobbied Congress in favor of the war, but that Iraq was not one of its chief concerns.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Jeffrey|last=Goldberg |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/07/04/real-insiders |title=Real Insiders |magazine=The New Yorker |date=July 4, 2005 |access-date=June 30, 2024}}</ref> ''[[J. The Jewish News of Northern California]]'' explained that while AIPAC never explicitly supported or lobbied for the Iraq War, some in the pro-Israel community had seen the war as aligning the United States and Israel against Arab and Muslim radicalism. However, by the time of the 2007 AIPAC annual policy conference, continuing violence in Iraq had undermined that view, and at a conference session, the war was blamed for an increase in global terrorism.<ref name="JewishNews">{{cite news |last1=Kampeas |first1=Ron |title=AIPAC meeting wasn't supposed to be partisan, but |url=https://www.jweekly.com/2007/03/16/aipac-meeting-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-partisan-but/ |access-date=June 30, 2024 |work=J. The Jewish News of Northern California |agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=March 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608004725/https://www.jweekly.com/2007/03/16/aipac-meeting-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-partisan-but/ |archive-date=June 8, 2023}}</ref>

===Policy towards Iran===
AIPAC's official position on Iran is to encourage a strong diplomatic and economic response coordinated among the [[United States government]], its European allies, Russia, and China.<ref name="Post-friendship" />

In 2012, AIPAC called for "crippling" sanctions on Iran in a letter to every member of Congress.<ref>[http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20100310-203620.html US-Israel group demands "crippling" Iran sanctions] March 10, 2010| AFP</ref> In line with this approach, AIPAC has lobbied to levy economic [[embargo]]es and increase [[International sanctions|sanctions]] on Iran (known as the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013).<ref name="About AIPAC">{{cite web|title=What We've Accomplished|url=http://www.aipac.org/en/about/what-weve-accomplished|publisher=AIPAC|access-date=September 12, 2018}}</ref>  However, according to ''The New York Times'', its effort "stalled after stiff resistance from President Obama."<ref name=LANDLER/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/02/07/aipac-clarifies-position-on-iran-sanctions-bill-in-letter-to-supporters/ |title= AIPAC Clarifies Position on Iran Sanctions Bill in Letter to Supporters |date=February 7, 2014 |website=www.algemeiner.com |publisher=algemeiner.com |access-date=February 8, 2014}}</ref>

On [[agriculture]] and agricultural trade AIPAC lobbies for greater cooperation between the two countries.<ref name=jewishenterprise/> AIPAC considers agriculture to be a key economic sector for economic cooperation between them.<ref name=jewishenterprise>{{cite journal|year=2022|publisher=[[Springer Nature Switzerland AG]]|first=Richard|last=Heiberger|journal=[[Contemporary Jewry]]|issn=0147-1694|eissn=1876-5165|title=Capturing the Changing Nature of the "Jewish Enterprise"|volume=42 |issue=3–4 |pages=385–411 |doi=10.1007/s12397-022-09456-9 |s2cid=254658652 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12397-022-09456-9}}</ref>

===Successes===
AIPAC has been compared to firearms, banking, defense, and energy lobbies as "long" being "a feature of politics in Washington."
Its promotional literature notes that the Leadership Reception during its annual Policy Conference "will be attended by more members of Congress than almost any other event, except for a joint session of Congress or a State of the Union address."<ref name=bruck-50>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|page=50|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014}}</ref>
''[[The New York Times]]'' has described AIPAC as "a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle East"<ref>{{cite news|last=Shipler|first=David K.|title=On Middle East Policy, A Major Influence|work=The New York Times|date=July 6, 1987|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40711FD39540C758CDDAE0894DF484D81}}</ref> that is able to push numerous bills through Congress. "Typically," these "pass by unanimous votes."<ref name=LANDLER>{{cite news|last1=Landler|first1=Mark|title=Potent Pro-Israel Group Finds Its Momentum Blunted|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/world/middleeast/potent-pro-israel-group-finds-its-momentum-blunted.html|access-date=September 12, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 3, 2014}}</ref>

A [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] resolution condemning the [[United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict|UN Goldstone Report]] on human rights violations by Israel in Gaza, for example, passed 344–36 in 2009.<ref name="govtrack">{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2009-838|title=House Vote On Passage: H. Res. 867: Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to|date=November 3, 2009|work=GovTrack|access-date=November 4, 2009}}</ref><ref name=bruck-58>{{cite magazine|last1=Bruck|first1=Connie|title=Friends of Israel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 1, 2014|page=58|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel|access-date=September 9, 2014}}</ref>

In 1997, ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine named AIPAC the second-most powerful influence group in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kurtzman |first=D |date=November 11, 1998 |title=AIPAC listed 2nd most powerful group on Fortune list |url=http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/971128/aipac.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010716113551/http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/971128/aipac.shtml |archive-date=2001-07-16 |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bruck |first1=Connie |title=Friends of Israel |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel |access-date=November 4, 2018 |agency=The New Yorker |issue=September 1, 2014}}</ref>

AIPAC also lobbies for financial aid from the United States to Israel, helping to procure up to $3 billion in aid yearly, making Israel "the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II."<ref>Sharp, Jeremy M.: "U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel", Introduction, "CRS Report for Congress", Order Code RL33222</ref> According to the [[Congressional Research Service]] (CRS), these include providing aid "as all grant cash transfers, not designated for particular projects, and...transferred as a lump sum in the first month of the fiscal year, instead of in periodic increments. Israel is allowed to spend about one quarter of the military aid for the procurement in Israel of defense articles and services, including research and development, rather than in the United States."<ref>Migdalovitz, Carol: "Israel: Background and Relations with the United States", page 29. "CRS Report for Congress", Order Code RL33476</ref>