Why Attend the AIPAC Conference?
On November 7, 2014 United States elections brought a significant change in the makeup of the House and the Senate.
On November 17, 2014 five men, three of them American citizens, were brutally murdered by two Palestinian cousins intent on living out the call for “days of rage”.
Meanwhile, also in Israel, an implantable artificial pancreas is going into clinical trials this week and is hailed as a potential cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
I point out these three very different news items to focus on the fact that more swiftly than we can “wrap our head around” things in our country, this world changes significantly, sometimes tragically, sometimes hopefully.
We Jews live as proud citizens of our country involved in the political, economic and social fiber of our nation. We also involve ourselves in the events affecting our religious and spiritual home, Israel, with angst, hope and heightened awareness.
While we often doubt that there are ways to span the chasms existent in our own government and in the mire of the middle east, I am here to tell you that there is only ONE place in recent years that I have been able to witness across the aisle cooperation that hints that there can ever be a wider working relationship. At AIPAC policy conference you learn about the American-Israeli relationships from leaders in both parties – SPEAKING TOGETHER
There is only ONE place that deals with the reality of life on the ground in Israel, honestly evaluating both the good and the bad, all the while supporting the efforts of that state, that is at AIPAC at the policy conference in Washington DC.
The import of AIPAC is even more clear in these days of political shift in our own country. Many organizations function in a particular political realm and they have every right to do so. But the risk of all those organizations is that when their political group is not in power, those organizations do not find themselves in a position to affect the American-Israeli relationship significantly.
AIPAC is different. AIPAC is a completely non-partisan organization in terms of both American politics and Israeli politics. Its purpose is to forge relationships between Israel and the US with no involvement in trying to affect the question of who holds political leadership. In the US this means forging relationships with politicians and potential future leaders on both sides of the aisle and in Israel it means involvement with the whole spectrum of Israeli leadership.
Shifts in the American political geography have been significant in many directions over the past few years and AIPAC is always working to stay ahead of the flow, forging relationships in advance as they try to identify potential future leadership in both major parties.
At AIPAC policy conference you learn not only about worldwide politics, but also about how America and Israel cooperate and help each other in science, technology, education and more.
At AIPAC we experience first hand what it means to live in a free system where we can approach our representatives with our concerns and be heard. Walking through the halls of congress on our lobbying day is a profoundly emotional experience.
I am going to AIPAC policy conference March 1-3 in Washington DC and I WOULD LOVE to have a delegation of CBD members to go with and the opportunity to set up a reception for all of us there.