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AIPAC: Stop Iran From Wiping Israel Off Map
By
Joel Leyden Washington, D.C. --- March 6, 2013 … If you are an Israeli, never feel alone. Over 13,000 Americans converged on the Washington Convention Center for the AIPAC Policy Conference this past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. A sea of people proudly wearing American Israeli pins on their suits and carrying grey, plastic AIPAC pens came to hear from both Israeli and American Jewish leaders. As one who has dedicated over 20 years of his life to Israel, to Israeli advocacy. Having worked with American Jewish organizations, the IDF as an officer, as a journalist in Israel and as a senior media, marketing and cross-cultural consultant to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have never witnessed an event as large and as supportive of Israel as this. Once seated at the newly established press area, as AIPAC never had a section dedicated only to news reporters and editors, I must have turned my neck a dozen times to witness 13,000 Jews and Christians sitting behind me, to my right, in front and to my left. That Israel has this enormous amount of support by the American people is a fact that transcends the physical threats we face and reinforces our moral responsibility to one another - in Israel and around the world. It provides morale to our troops in the IDF and to all who serve in the Israel security forces. To hear speeches by US Vice President Joe Biden, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and many in the US Congress that illustrate understanding and support against the threats we face by Islamic Jihadists - Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran which has sworn to wipe Israel off the map further provides Israelis with the motivation we need to keep moving forward. To maintain democracy in a region which only knows brutal dictatorships, the absence of human rights and the massacre of innocent civilians. Many from AIPAC need to be acknowledged. But like the IDF, where does one start? Allow me to praise AIPAC President Michael Kassen, AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr, AIPAC PR Director Marshall Wittmann, PGA Director Jeff Kuhnreich, AIPAC Director of National Events Jeffrey Shulman, AIPAC Director of Marketing and Creative Services Jeremy Rider, Technology Division Director Scott Dubin and many from sister organizations such Jewish Federations of North America President Jerry Silverman and JFNA Washington Director William Daroff. But
among all these numbers of support and praise of their leaders,
one must look at where AIPAC is going. This is the first fault that I find with AIPAC. If there needs to be a system where AIPAC's strategy must be protected then by all means exclude the press - but not those who have a "security level" to attend. There are those of us in the media who have security access in Israel and we are not prohibited from attending sensitive news briefings. Just the opposite - we are encouraged to attend so that we have a better understanding in getting the word out to political, Jewish and Christian community leaders. AIPAC is one of the finest Jewish organizations on the face of this good earth. But they are not perfect. That Hagel was nominated by Congress as Secretary of Defense, a man who calls Israel an Apartheid state, should never have happened. Yes, AIPAC needs to pick their fights. But this was a fight that should have been addressed. As
for details as to why it was not confronted by AIPAC I can only
guess. But guessing is not good enough when it comes to saving
lives in Israel. In
Israel we have "war corespondents" and have government
issued press cards with different levels of access. AIPAC needs
to implement the same system. I can assure you that Steve Linde,
the editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post and David Horovitz
of the Times of Israel, that those who work for the Israel
Broadcasting Authority and I do not represent a threat to the
state of Israel. Having support for Israel is good but having policy direction for those numbers is critical. It is my educated guess that AIPAC is on the same page as the Israel Ministry of Defense, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office. And we can see this in what was spoken at AIPAC. Prime
Minister Netanyahu and Israel Ambassador Michael Oren's call for
a "clear and credible military threat" by the US to
Iran and repeated that diplomacy and sanctions have failed.
That Iran is
only using talks to stall to develop a nuclear weapon, a weapon
which they will threaten to use against the Jewish, Infidel state. Iran and the actions of AIPAC to secure the Iron Dome defense system in Israel were repeated throughout the three days. AIPAC also highlighted many of the achievements that Israel has recently been responsible for. From developing new health technologies, humanitarian rescue missions to Haiti and Japan to presenting Israeli climber Nadav Ben Yehuda who forsaked climbing to the peak of Mount Everest to save the life of a fellow climber - a Muslim from Turkey. AIPAC concluded it's conference with several delegations, such as Hillel, coming together from every state to enjoy both good talk and food. But it was the Tuesday event - the lobbying of 100 members of Congress by thousands of AIPAC delegates which one must note. The logistics here were fantastic. Having each and every delegate do what AIPAC staffers perform every day. Only one thing was missing. There was no press coverage. There was no press coverage by some of us who have and continue to carry an M-16 in Israel. We are the messengers. AIPAC needs to define which ones of us among the messengers will not report or leak AIPAC strategy. We need to work together. Please don't place us all in the same boat with J Street, the ISM or BDS. AIPAC is a wonderful, potent organization that deserves the full and unconditional support of every American Jew. They are truly the PR arm of the IDF in North America. They say that they are not in the business of PR but rather lobbying. They need to embrace lobbying, public affairs and PR as essential tools for Israel. They need to explain their actions, not all, but most to both Congress and the American public to remain relevant.
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