Why this AIPAC conference is different from all other years
Source: Haaretz
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual parley is known for pulling in top names from the administration, Congress and the Israeli government.
But this year, the pro-Israel lobby’s policy conference will put many of the key players in the American-Israeli relationship onstage, as relations between the two allies are at a rare pitch of tension.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will get a chance to explain her views on Israel’s settlement activity only 10 days after scolding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a 45-minute phone conversation. Netanyahu himself will take the stage later that day, expecting to receive a needed dose of support before facing President Obama at the White House on March 23.
The conference will host hundreds of lawmakers, many of them torn between supporting the administration and wishing to show their friendship to Israel. Some 7,000 AIPAC activists are also expected to attend during the course of the three-day conference.
AIPAC’s annual show of force comes at a crucial time for the organization. The group that prides itself on maintaining strong and intimate ties with any administration has taken the unusual step of openly criticizing the Obama administration’s treatment of the settlement dispute with Israel as a source of “serious concern.”
The criticism, in the form of a March 14 official statement, came in response to the administration’s strong and repeated public criticism of Israel’s announcement of new, exclusively Jewish housing construction in predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem just as Vice President Joe Biden was visiting to reinforce the two allies’ ties.
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