I INSIGHT

AIPAC Ranks Split
Over Goal-Achieving

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

T

he American-Israel
Public Affairs Com-
mittee (AIPAC) is in
the midst of an organizational
earthquake — and even cri-
tics of the powerful pro-Israel
lobbying organization worry
about the consequences,, now
that internal squabbles have
spilled over into the national
media.
But even as AIPAC erupts
over longstanding personal
and strategic conflicts, it is
far from clear whether its im-
pact as an advocate for Israel
► will be compromised. Some
observers warn that AIPAC's
internal problems could con-
tribute to an erosion of public
support for the entire pro-
Israel cause and make it dif-
ficult for the group to main-
tain an effective lobbying
presence in Washington.
But others attribute
AIPAC's upheavals to a
management problem ende-
mic to any major public-
affairs organization. Groups
like AIPAC are invariably led
by lay leaders, but lobbying is
an increasingly specialized
art, requiring a level of profes-
sionalism and independence
that often causes conflict with
the laity.
Proponents of this theory
argue that AIPAC is just
housecleaning in preparation
for a new administration.
When the dust settles, they
suggest, AIPAC will emerge
stronger than ever.
The current AIPAC flap
reached its height with the
departure earlier this month
of Douglas M. Bloomfield, its
top congressional lobbyist
and legislative director.
Bloomfield earned a reputa-
tion as one of the most savvy
lobbyists on the Hill; his pro-
fessionalism, in fact, often put
him at odds with AIPAC's lay
leadership.
There was also word that a
long-standing feud over the
status of the Near East
Report, AIPAC's semi-
autonomous weekly newslet-
ter, had erupted into open
warfare. According to AIPAC
sources, the result will pro-
bably be strict new limits on
NER's editorial indepen-
dence.
This all comes on the heels
of a barrage of bad publicity,
including a "Sixty Minutes"
expose of alleged AIPAC links
to the distribution of money
by political action committees
and an ongoing investigation
by the Los Angeles Times in-

►

to improper behavior during
a 1986 California senate race
by several individuals former-
ly associated with the big lob-
bying group.
But bad publicity is only
part of the story. In what may
be a more serious develop-
ment, congressional staffs —
major targets of AIPAC's ef-
forts on Capitol Hill — have
expressed growing frustration
over some of the group's re-
cent priorities and the mixed
messages they sometimes get
about its positions on these
issues.
But Capitol Hill staffers
who agree about AIPAC's
deficiencies disagree about
their causes. Some staffers
who work closely with AIPAC
blame its top officers, who
take an unusually active role
in day-to-day operations.
When AIPAC was pressing
the administration to reverse
a decision to sell Maverick
missiles to Kuwait, top
AIPAC officers met with Na-
tional Security Adviser Colin
Powell and worked out a com-
promise that, some say,
seriously undercut the AIPAC
lobbying team.
But other sources insist
that the fault lies with the
professional lobbyists, who
fail to recognize that AIPAC,
like most major Jewish or-
ganizations, is run primarily
by its officers.

Lobbyists and lay leaders,
they argue, see the same
issues through different
lenses. While there may be a
stronger internal logic to the
perspective of the highly
skilled professionals, the real
power remains in the hands of
the lay leaders.
This tension between
AIPAC's Washington profes-
sionals and the lay leader-
ship, representing a distinct-
ly non- Washington point of
view, is part of AIPAC's fiber,
according to this view. The
balance of power is always
changing; for a while, the pro-
fessionals gain power until
the lay leaders rebel and
reassert their dominance over
the organization's activities.
So what has happened at
AIPAC in recent days, accord-
ing to several sources, is
merely another attempt by
the lay leadership to reassert
their management
responsibilities.
"We've seen this time and
again," said one Capitol Hill
staffer who works closely
with AIPAC. "The conflict is
always there. The process of
lobbying favors the growing
power of the professionals; the

Starring

Evelyn Orbach • Robert Grossman

Written by Jack

LaZebnik •

Directed by

Paula Kalustian

8:00 p.m. Performances • Sunday Matinee 2:00 p.m.

•

January 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28 and 29

All Tickets $10.00 • Group Rates Available

AARON DEROY THEATRE

Jewish Community Center
west Bloomfield, Michigan

For Tickets and Information Phone 313/661-1000 Extension 342

So nu?
You still have time to take
advantage of our special
for January.
"Bring A Friend"
or your mother, or sister,
or husband, or boss,
or neighbor, or hairdresser,
or psychiatrist, or .. .
Two European facials for $60
(regularly $90)

The Kitty Wagner Look Lasts a Lifetime

alareit

Facial Salon and Spa

Hunters Square • Farmington Hills • 626-1231

"You'll like our service
you'll love our people."

Adeline A. Laforet, RN

••

HealthCare

PROFESSIONALS LTD.
President
Home/Hospital/Nursing Home
Nursing Care/Personal Care/Homemaking
Rent-a-Mom

ALWAYS OPEN

563-0056
Dearborn

357-7080
Southfield

656.7075
Rochester

747-8070
Ann Arbor

Medicare/Blue Cross/Private Insurance

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

49

