Comments on: What AIPAC Doesn’t Want Discussed in Court

By: Yisrael Medad, Shiloh, Israel

Yisrael Medad, Shiloh, Israel — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:24:44 +0000

Funny, but the main claim from Israel against AIPAC is that it usually cooperates only with the Israel government in power and ignores the opposition as if there’s no plurality of opinion. And it also ignores non-establishment groups. I had a very hard time, but succeeded, in appearing as a Yesha representative at an AIPAC annual conference in the late 1980s if only in an elective session. Now Bloomfield is suggesting such activity of truly presenting Israel public opinion as semi-criminal?

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:38:25 +0000

Nothing like that insider “Well Informed Source” to give your reporting credibility.

“t…hey were working all the time to undermine it,” said a well-informed source.

“…Arafat and the Palestinians to put on more restrictions and limit relations,” the source added.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:34:22 +0000

Well, I guess this proves that AIPAC doesn’t have that much influence in the US as the US only increased its support for the peace process throughout the 1990′s. Great refutation of Walt and Mearsheimer, Gershom!

By: Scott Benson

Scott Benson — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:47:28 +0000

I think that the comments of a disgruntled ex AIPAC staffer need to be taken with a grain of salt, if not a boulder of salt. Maybe thats why he has been cast ashore in Jersey like chemical waste

By: george a.hilborn

george a.hilborn — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:41:48 +0000

Now that the former Republican Party exists only in exile maybe we can get something accomplished without the interference the Bush buddies like AIPAC their “water carriers” . Netanyahu is a lightweight who wouldn’t even be in politics if he couldn’t lunch off his truly heroic brother’s reputation.

I support J- Street and I’m not even a Jew. I guess my opinions don’t count . I also belong to the ACLU and the Americans United For Separaton of Church and State . I guess using the Y Ben David criteria they are fringe groups too.

By the wayY who are the Progressives you always allude to ? I guess if your group is the opposite ,can we call you th Non-Progressives or just the Retardants.

Barak Obama has the best interest of this country in his sights which includes getting a viable Near East peace which some like you in Israel are trying to thwart. Your right up there with Rush Limbaugh and the lunatic fringe in this country. History and time are not your side

By: Y. Ben-David

Y. Ben-David — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:06:56 +0000

Edward-
Your claim that AIPAC is “working to thwart the peace process” is your view only. Many “progressives” who claim to support Israel say they want massive pressure on Israel from Obama to take measures that threaten the vital interests of Israel and endanger its security, up to the point of imposing punitive sanctions. They say this is for “Israel’s own good” and to “promote the peace process”. However, many Jews, including American Jews oppose this. All the claims I hear from supporters of J-Street, the Israel Policy Forum and other such fringe groups are that since, some polls show a majority of American Jews supposedly want the creation of a Palestinian state, then they extrapolate this to mean that American Jews want there to be pressure and threats on Israel to implement this dream. I don’t for one moment believe that. Many believe that it is on the Arab side FIRST to show its good will by ending terror, and then this can be reciprocated by Israeli concessions. The argument is over this point.

By: Edward Witten

Edward Witten — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:31:26 +0000

As an American Jew, I think Y. Ben-David has misunderstood the issue. The issue is that AIPAC, which presents itself as a neutral pro-Israeli lobby, actually works closely with one side in Israeli politics, and this includes working to thwart the peace process that most Americans and most American Jews support.

By: Beyond The Fringe » Blog Archive » Closed Zone - Boycotts & More Protests Against Israeli Land Theft

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:31:52 +0000

[...] To keep an eye on – the “long-delayed trial of two former AIPAC staffers accused of passing classified info to the media and the Israeli government.” Gershom Gorenborg quotes Doug Bloomfield in the New Jersey Jewish News: One of the topics AIPAC won’t want discussed, say these sources, is how closely it coordinated with Benjamin Netanyahu in the 1990s, when he led the Israeli Likud opposition and later when he was prime minister, to impede the Oslo peace process being pressed by President Bill Clinton and Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. [...]

By: Y. Ben-David

Y. Ben-David — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:21:18 +0000

Gershom posts:
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In addition to cooperating with the Israeli opposition, AIPAC worked closely with congressional Republicans to undermine the Clinton administration’s Middle East policy, several sources confirmed.

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Call the police! Can you imagine that? Opposition politician opposing what the government in power is doing!
Of course, when Netanyahu is in power and the Israeli Left is lobbying against his policies in Washington “for the sake of peace”, that is okay! Having Clinton openly interfere in Israel 1996 election campaign to help Peres is wonderful. Yes, the Left can do anything it wants, but for the Right to do the same thing is a crime!