New Legal Moves Against America's Israel Lobby
Set against last weekend’s Washington jamboree organised by pro Israeli AIPAC, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States, the meeting of senior officials of the United States Internal Security Section with members of a US Middle East think tank, barely registered on the political Richter scale. AIPAC—in full, the America Israel Public Affairs Committee—was in Washington for its annual convention, and half of the United States Congress trooped through its doors to attend the organisation's Gala Banquet.
Speakers included Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who used the occasion to champion the new wave of East Jerusalem settlements, as well as Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair. The AIPAC press releases boasted of “500 lobbying meetings” on Capitol Hill, while the small meeting between the security official and Middle East analysts merely rated a brisk PR Newswire.