JUST NU: Israel anfaller Libanon [2006]

For more than two decades, AIPAC's Political Leadership Development Program has educated and trained young leaders in pro-Israel advocacy, and encouraged them to become politically active. Students involved with AIPAC learn how to effectively advocate for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, bring their Members of Congress to campus, promote voter registration, work on political campaigns, and build relationships with other student leaders.

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Preparing the Next Generation of Pro-Israel Leaders

The challenges for today's students are enormous -- fewer Jewish youth than ever identify with Israel, average student turnout in recent elections is only 25 percent and anti-Israel activity on campus is rising. AIPAC trains and educates pro-Israel students across America and develops their leadership skills so that they become effective citizen lobbyists today and pro-Israel leaders tomorrow.

Educating Congress About the U.S.-Israel Relationship

Two-thirds of the House has been elected during this past decade, one in every three senators is in his or her first term and more than 2,000 candidates likely will run for federal office in the next two years. AIPAC educates all of them about the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship. To complete this task, we must expand our unparalleled network of activists by traveling to communities both large and small in all 50 states.

(AIPAC's president Howard Friedman has boasted that "only ONE nation in the world came out and flatly declared: Let Israel finish the job," praising AIPAC members and "the rest of American Jewry" for pressuring Washington to give Israel carte blanche, while also insisting that the Lebanon conflict was a mere "diversion" from the real problem: "Iran's nuclear weapons program.") Chief among these goals is to wipe the Islamic Republic of Iran off the map.

“Thank God we have AIPAC, the greatest supporter and friend we have in the whole world,” says Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister. The lobby, which is the centrepiece of a co-ordinated body that includes pressure groups, think-tanks and fund-raising operations, produces voting statistics on congressmen that are carefully scrutinised by political donors. It also organises regular trips to Israel for congressmen and their staffs. (The Washington Post reports that Roy Blunt, the House majority whip, has been on four.)