(Bloomberg) The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby, is weathering a storm caused by allegations of espionage with its political clout, fund-raising prowess, and membership support as strong as ever. The lobby is drawing an A-list of U.S. officials and lawmakers to its annual conference in Washington this week. AIPAC is the second most effective lobbying organization in Washington among Democrats and the fourth most effective among Republicans, according to a survey of members of Congress last month by the National Journal. "Within Washington, inside the Beltway, the general feeling is the government has yet to demonstrate that it really has a case here,'' said Martin Indyk, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who once worked for AIPAC. "And given that people have dealt with AIPAC for so long, and know its way of operating here in Washington, I think people are prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt, which they should.''
2005-05-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive