The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a Jewish American organization aimed at promoting Israel's interests in the U.S. Congress. It is considered "the jewel in the crown" of the pro-Israeli Jewish establishment, and rightfully so. Its annual conferences are an event no American politician would dare miss. Democrat and former Speaker of the House Harry Reid even spoke out against the policies of then-President Barack Obama in a fiery speech against the Iran nuclear deal at one such event.
But this is also why AIPAC has never lacked enemies, whether they be American politicians who don't appreciate its influence or Jews on the radical Left who are either anti-Zionist or simply oppose the policies of the current Israeli government. Of course, there are also those on the Israeli Left who have criticized the organization for its supposed right-wing positions.
This time, however, AIPAC is being criticized by the Right, under the pretext it has officially come out in support of the two-state solution. While the organization did adopt former President George W. Bush's policy in support of the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel during the presidency of former President Barack Obama, by 2016, the issue had been removed from its agenda due to, among other things, a lack of conditions amenable to either negotiations or a peace deal.
AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr did mention this position in his remarks to the conference. While this may have been unnecessary, he did not say anything new. AIPAC originally adopted this position in an effort to "balance" its attacks on the Obama administration regarding the Iran deal. AIPAC, we must remember, is not an Israeli body but an American body, and therein lies its strength. It was established to promote U.S.-Israel ties on the basis of shared values and interests, and like it or not, the two-state solution has been the official policy of three previous administrations and apparently is also that of U.S. President Donald Trump.
AIPAC must be bipartisan. In American politics, this is now more important than ever, especially given the possibility the Democrats regain control of at least one of the chambers of Congress.
As for Israel, AIPAC reflects the positions of the democratically elected Israeli government. The enthusiastic welcome for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the most recent conference was a clear reflection of this.
Both the two-state and one-state solutions are equally negative: A Palestinian state in the current reality of the Middle East would be an irredentist terror state that would threaten Israel's existence; a binational state, on the other hand, would nullify the vision of a Jewish state. A responsible Israeli government does not cast its fate with either of these options, but rather with the country's vital long-term security considerations. At any rate, the only ones with something to gain from these attacks on AIPAC are Israel's detractors.
