Robert Dreyfuss has an article in the upcoming Sept/Oct issue of Mother Jones about challenges facing AIPAC:
For decades, AIPAC-together with Washington's broader Israel lobby, which distributed more than $22 million in compaign contributions during the last election cycle-has had a well earned reputation for getting what it wants. And many expected the same when, during the May conference, thousands of AIPAC foot soldiers fanned across Capitol Hill to talk up the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, a bill designed to throttle Iran's economy by restricting its ability to import gasoline (which it doesn't have much capacity to produce domestically). The legislation is a top priority for aipac, which views Iran's nuclear enrichment push as an existential threat to the Jewish state.
But this time, aipac was in for a surprise. Rep. Howard Berman, a dependable Israel backer who authored the legislation this past spring, put it on ice just weeks after it was introduced. "I have no intention of moving this bill through the legislative process in the near future," declared the California Democrat, who chairs the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
"Berman shocked everybody by not moving this bill forward," an official from the Israel lobby told me. "He's essentially put the kibosh on the bill. On his own bill! This is a major, major, major problem."
So what happened? The first explanation is obvious: Like many Democrats, Berman is reluctant to stand in the way of President Obama's foreign policy objectives, including his overture to Iran and his push for US leadership toward an Israeli-Palestinian accord. But Berman's action also signaled a deterioration of aipac's power. It's begun to appear that "aipac is not the 800-pound gorilla everyone says they are," says Dan Fleshier, author of Transforming America's Israel Lobby.. "They may be just a 400-pound gorilla."
On Capitol Hill, a coalition of groups to the left of aipac has been mobilizing Democrats to support Obama's agenda in the Middle East, even if it conflicts with the goals of aipac and Netanyahu. "Members of Congress are looking to support the president, and aipac hasn't moderated itself as much as it should have," says Patrick Disney, acting legislative director at the National Iranian American Council, which is part of the new coalition.
SOURCE: Still the Chosen One?
Robert Dreyfuss. Mother Jones. San Francisco: Sep/Oct 2009. Vol. 34, Iss. 5; pg. 43
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