AIPAC
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates for pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States. The current President of the AIPAC is Lee Rosenberg, from Chicago, Illinois.[1] As an independent, not-for-profit entity, AIPAC is funded through contributions from its members.
Describing itself as "America's Pro-Israel Lobby," [2] AIPAC is a mass-membership organization whose members include Democrats, Republicans, and independents. The New York Times calls it "the most important organization affecting America's relationship with Israel."[3] It has been described as one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. Its fiercest critics regard it as an agent of the Israeli government with a "stranglehold" on the US Congress.
In 2005, a Pentagon analyst pleaded guilty to charges of passing US government secrets to two AIPAC staffers in what is known as the AIPAC espionage scandal. Both staffers were later fired.[4]
In 1984 the FBI investigated after Israeli Minister of Economics Dan Halpern passed stolen classified US government documents to AIPAC outlining trade secrets of major US industries lobbying against the US-Israel Free Trade Area.[5]
References
- ↑ [1]. Main Website. Accessed February 1st, 2009.
- ↑ AIPAC website
- ↑ Learn about AIPAC. AIPAC Main Website.
- ↑ Guilty plea entered in Pentagon Spy Case Ynet News. 10/06/05
- ↑ FBI Investigates AIPAC Israel Lobby Archive. 11/05/10
