AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Umbrella organization, founded in 1954, to lobby the U.S. Congress in support of Israel.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC; originally known as the American Zionist Public Affairs Committee) was established in 1954; the name of the organization was changed in 1959. Isaiah L. Kenen (1905–1988), the organization's executive director and chief lobbyist from 1959 to 1974, is credited with shaping AIPAC and overseeing its emergence as the leading Jewish-sponsored pro-Israel lobby in Washington, D.C. Kenen also served as chairman of AIPAC in 1974 and 1975 and as honorary chairman from 1975 to 1988. In these capacities, Kenen created the biweekly bulletin Near East Report, which he edited from 1957 to 1973, and introduced the widely distributed annual guidebook Myths & Facts. The latter was discontinued in 1992.

Thomas A. Dine, who served as AIPAC's executive director from 1980 to 1993, succeeded Kenen. Under Dine's tenure, AIPAC's membership rose from 11,000 to more than 50,000, and the organization's annual budget from $750,000 to more than $3 million. By 2003 AIPAC had 65,000 members nationwide and was regarded as one of the most effective and sophisticated lobbying groups in the United States.

In general, AIPAC serves as a watchdog group, tracking political, financial, and military attitudes and policies toward Israel in U.S. public life. AIPAC policy analysts regularly review hundreds of periodicals, journals, speeches, and reports and meet with foreign policy experts in order to track and analyze current events and trends related to Israel and the Middle East.

As a registered Washington lobby, AIPAC is prohibited from contributing funds to political candidates and elected officials. However, the organization does have a long-standing history of supplying U.S. politicians, elected officials, and government agencies with information and data on Israel and Middle East affairs. (In fact, during his tenure with AIPAC, Kenen drafted statements and speeches on Israel and U.S. policy in the Middle East for many politicians, including Harry S. Truman, Hubert H. Humphrey, and John F. Kennedy.) To this end, the organization conducts regular meetings with U.S. legislators and their support staff. AIPAC also promotes Israel on U.S. college campuses and maintains leadership development programs that educate and train young U.S. Jewish leaders in pro-Israel political advocacy.

see also american council for judaism; american jewish committee; zionist organization of america.

Mark A. Raider