Disclaimer. I was never a fan of AIPAC, the American Israel Political Action Committee. I understand that it may have been founded with noble intentions in order to promote Israel's interests in the US government but it never quite got its feet under it the right way. Perhaps it's because Jews in general and Israel in particular are so bad (read: suck) at hasbara (PR; public relations), that AIPAC could never realize its potential. Or perhaps it just took time for AIPAC's true agenda to surface. More on that later.
I was turned off to AIPAC because initially, it was in lockstep with the Israeli government, despite its national suicidal policies during the dark days of Oslo, the Gush Katif retreat and surrender, etc. I could go on. But in fairness, and to play devil's advocate, a PAC representing a particular government's interest should do just that without superimposing their own agenda on top if it, but it doesn't mean that I have to support it and I didn't. Yet the power that AIPAC wielded was an illusory magnification at best (played up by the media and the anti-Israel lobby) and non-existent at worst.
Let's be honest, what exactly did/does AIPAC do? It runs very impressive conferences in Washington that many in the Jewish establishment feel they need to be present at to be relevant. And politicians come to glad-hand play suck-up to the folks in attendance. And with money raised, they go visit various US politicians and hand out bribes in the form of campaign donations in the hopes of getting "something" done for Israel so AIPAC can take credit and justify their existence while keeping themselves employed. But do they actually accomplish anything aside from paying themselves, and slapping themselves on the back or are they a slightly different version of Malcom Hoenlein and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (and if anybody can tell me exactly what Malcom and those guys do aside from talking a lot, taking lots of photo ops, not admitting they were wrong about Gush Katif, expressing "reservations" over Israel keeping out the Jew haters from Congress, and drawing high six figure salaries, I'd be curious and grateful)? Is AIPAC a jewel or just cheap cubic zirconia?
Here's a few secrets that AIPAC probably doesn't want you to know, or at least not pay careful attention to.
- Secret 1. If not for 50 million or so fundamentalist Christians in what the left and right coast Jewish liberal elites would derisively call "flyover country", Israel would not stand a chance in Congress, AIPAC or no AIPAC. The mythical "control" exerted by 1-2% of the US population via AIPAC is just that. A myth. A myth promulgated by the Jew haters like Walt, Mersheimer, and of course the Jew-hater extraordinaire, Patrick Buchanan (who can forget his classic "amen corner" remark describing so-called Israel compliant officals in the US government) to exaggerate Jewish influence and use that as a bludgeon against American Jews.
- Secret 2. AIPAC really is useless cheap cubic zirconia. Witness their utter impotence during the Iran treaty debate during the Obama presidency. AIPAC went head to head against Iran's PAC and got their clock cleaned. Iran PAC beat them at their own game by carefully targeting politicos they knew would take Iranian cash to vote in favor of the deal, not the least being NY's own low-Q senator and current presidential hopeful, Christine Gillibrand. She joined Markey, Shaheen and Franken (who took time off from his women's rights agenda), all Democrats, in bending over in compliance.
- Secret 3. AIPAC 's agenda has always been, to be charitable, left of center. But it was carefully wrapped and packaged. Once it became apparent that Israel as a country and Bibi in particular were moving rightward, they unmasked and the true agenda I alluded to earlier came out.
Perhaps realizing that most Jews in the US are of the assimilated liberal variety (or as referred to by the late Prof Steven Plaut, "asslibs") and have very little, if any, connection/support to/of Israel, AIPAC feels its survival depends on setting a left-wing agenda, being critical of Israel, as well as focusing their recruiting efforts on non-Jews who really don't know any better in order to bring it the cash needed to sustain this political Ponzi scheme. Ironic isn't it? The people they should be recruiting who would have a natural love for Israel, they can't because that's not compatible with AIPAC's own internal agenda. Face it, if you strongly identify as a Jew and you have a love or at least strong feelings for Israel, you have no place in AIPAC or for that matter, the Democratic party as the ideologies are now becoming identical. But hey, don't take my word for it,
Trump: Jews who vote Democrat ignorant or disloyal.
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