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geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
Fri Sep 11, 2015, 02:07 AM Sep 2015

Influential Pro-Israel Group Suffers Stinging Political Defeat

Last edited Fri Sep 11, 2015, 02:52 AM - Edit history (1)

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/world/influential-pro-israel-group-suffers-stinging-political-defeat.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=1&referrer=


On Thursday, the committee, known as Aipac, was handed a stinging defeat. After Mr. Obama mustered enough Democratic backing in the Senate to halt a vote on a resolution of disapproval against the deal, a group known for its political clout saw its power and reputation in Washington diminished.

“They failed — they couldn’t even get a vote,” said Clifford Kupchan, an Iran expert and the chairman of the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm, who noted that Aipac had gone “all in” and tried everything to stop the deal. “It’s among the biggest setbacks for Aipac in recent memory.”

...

“They will be able to recoup, but it is inescapable that there will be stocktaking,” said Dennis B. Ross, a former senior adviser to Mr. Obama who is a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “And one of the lessons they will have to learn is that you really have to be very careful about the fights you pick that take on what amounts to a purely partisan character, because that bears a cost to you as an organization.”Aipac now faces a debate within its ranks about how to respond to the defeat, whether by exacting a political price from lawmakers — all of them Democrats — who defied its wishes and supported the Iran deal, or moving swiftly to mend fences with lawmakers and White House officials angered by the group’s efforts to kill the deal.


AIPAC is a de facto arm of the Likud/Republican transnational political alliance. The question is how much effect they will put into maintaining the mirage of bipartisan consensus.

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napi21

(45,806 posts)
1. They ought to go live in Israel. I'm sure Bibi willl treat them well.
Fri Sep 11, 2015, 03:26 AM
Sep 2015

I'pm GLAD to see their org. take a hit. Their noses don't belong in our politics anyway.

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
4. "Their noses don't belong in our politics anyway"
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 12:27 AM
Sep 2015

Gee no subtle anti-semitism there.

All members of AIPAC are American citizens, incidentally.

So what exactly do you mean by "our politics" ?

napi21

(45,806 posts)
11. I'm talking about Bibi being invited to speak to OUR CONGRESS
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 05:36 PM
Sep 2015

to sway votes against OUR President! I have nothing against any American or any other nationality for that matter, but no =ne of them have any right to try to interfere with the way we run our Country.

Why on earth did you think that was anti-semitism?

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
12. Do you understand that AIPAC is made up entirely of American citizens?
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 07:06 PM
Sep 2015

When you say "our country" you appear to be excluding those particular Americans (the vast majority of whom are Jewish). It's just as much their country as anyone else's even if you don't agree with their opinions about Israel.

Also there is a stereotype involving Jews and noses that you seemed to be alluding to, but I will assume that was not intentional.

eridani

(51,907 posts)
3. AIPAC Spent Millions of Dollars to Defeat the Iran Deal. Instead, It May Have Destroyed Itself.
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 12:19 AM
Sep 2015

AIPAC alternatives are J Street http://jstreet.org/ and jewish Voice for Peace https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

http://www.thenation.com/article/aipac-spent-millions-of-dollars-to-defeat-the-iran-deal-instead-it-may-have-destroyed-itself/

It is hard to exaggerate the damage inflicted on AIPAC by the congressional defeat of its efforts to torpedo the Iran nuclear deal. It is not as if AIPAC won’t live to fight again, because it will, but this defeat has ruptured the status quo, possibly forever.

The extent of its efforts to defeat the deal was unprecedented even for a lobby known for its no-holds-barred wars against past White House initiatives it considered unfriendly to Israel, going all the way back to the Ford administration. AIPAC, and its cutout Citizens For A Nuclear Free Iran, reportedly budgeted upwards of $20 million for a campaign that included flooding the airwaves with television spots; buying full-page newspaper ads, arranging fly-ins of AIPAC members to Washington, organizing demonstrations at offices of AIPAC-friendly members of Congress who were believed to be wavering, and ensuring that problematic legislators were officially warned by precisely the right donor. Rank-and-file AIPAC members were largely irrelevant to the process. Money did the talking, and also the yelling and the cursing when necessary. As one congressional staffer put it to me, “Taking money from AIPAC is like getting a loan from the mob. You better not forget to pay it back. They walk into this office like they own it

AIPAC is not a mass-membership organization. It claims 100,000 members, which probably means it has fewer than that. But no matter, it is, or was until now, viewed as speaking for all 6 million American Jews. In fact, whenever it testifies on Capitol Hill, it says it is speaking for the entire organized community. The truth, however, is that 82 percent of American Jews belong to no Jewish organizations at all, meaning not only that there is no organization that speaks for them, but that no organization even knows exactly who they are.

Legislators believe that AIPAC is the Jewish voice because (again, until now) that is what they heard from their Jewish donors. Although only 4 to 6 percent of American Jews cast their votes based on Israel policy, and even though Jews have voted consistently Democratic since 1928 (about 70 percent voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012), the donor class led by AIPAC has convinced politicians both that Jews are primarily interested in Israel and that their votes are in play, when, in reality, Jews are the most unwavering of Democrats, second only to African-Americans. And much the same dynamic is at play when it comes to Iran. In fact, the one scientific poll of Jews on attitudes toward the Iran deal showed 49 percent for it, with 31 percent against. (Writing in the September 9 Washington Post,

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
5. MJ Rosenberg is a buffoon
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 12:28 AM
Sep 2015

No one viewed this group as "speaking for all 6 million American Jews" but MJ and a small cadre of folks bizarrely fixated on this group (MJ used to work for them).

eridani

(51,907 posts)
9. The establishment orf J Street was a wonderful day for anyone concerned about--
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 01:56 AM
Sep 2015

--peace in the Middle East.

Attorney in Texas

(3,373 posts)
13. AIPAC managed to turn support for the Netanyahu administration into a partisan issue. I hope
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 07:14 PM
Sep 2015

J Street can fix that but I really think it may take Netanyahu's exit to fix the damage he and AIPAC have done.

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