Dems want payback for GOP vote against bill with Israel aid

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Congressional Democrats voted in aid to Israel, and now they want payback from the pro-Israel lobby: Drum Republicans out.

Behind the scenes, Democrats are pressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to make a case against Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who voted overwhelmingly last week against the foreign operations appropriations bill, which included $2.44 billion for Israel.

Republican leaders opposed the overall $34.2 billion bill on two counts: It restores funding for overseas women's health groups that use non-U.S. funds for abortions and represents 10 percent more than the amount appropriated last year by Congress.

So far, the Republican explanations seem to be sitting well with AIPAC, which currently has no intention of making an issue of the vote. The sense at the pro-Israel powerhouse is that the wrangling over abortion is politics as usual and that further down the line, when the bill comes back from Senate-House conferencing, it will have massive bipartisan backing.

AIPAC's decision to refrain from criticizing the GOP is likely to reinforce the view in some Democratic circles that the pro-Israel lobby has been favoring Republicans in recent years. The situation is drawing comments from House Democratic leaders.

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http://www.jewishreview.org/Archives/Article.php?Article=2007-06-15-3420

Am I the only taxpayer who gets real tired of USA politicians pandering for approval from AIPAC? The politicians certainly don't pander for approval from US citizens at large except on election day. The rest of the time we are there only to pay taxes to the benefit of such lobbyists as AIPAC. Screw em and screw all the grubby lobbyists that believe they should control our politicians and our country.

:beer: