POWER

Council of Jewish Federations represents
the needs and interests of Jews on a na-
tional basis — but they can't go in and
lobby for Illinois," said Joel Carp, the
Chicago federation's associate executive
director.
"That's what we're interested in. We
want to increase the state's piece of the
economic pie, which potentially increases
the share of funds available for the Jew-
ish community here for things like health
and social services, for refugees, for edu-
cation."
Has the investment paid off?
"In six years, we've probably made up
the costs of operating that office for more
than a dozen years," Mr. Carp said.
"We're talking about several million dol-
lars. We have a major grant from HUD
for housing for the elderly, we received a
second grant from HUD enabling us to
open and renovate a 23-bed transitional
shelter for homeless Jews."
But it's not just money that attracts
groups like the Chicago federation to
Washington.
"A lot of what happens to the state of
Illinois, in terms of laws, regulations and
procedures are determined in Washing-
ton," Mr. Carp continued. "How regula-
tions and policies get shaped is very im-
portant to us."

•

The Israel Lobby

T

A

Hyman Bookbinder: The dean of Washington Jewish lobbyists.

The diversity of
Jewish opinions
now heard in
Washington has
been a mixed
blessing for the
pro-Israel
community

24

FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1992

"There are a number of laws that Con-
gress passed last year that would have
looked very different if we hadn't had a
Washington presence," said David
Zwiebel, Agudath's director of govern-
ment relations and general counsel.
"Opening a Washington office was one of
the best decisions we ever made."
Two years ago, the National Confer-
ence on Soviet Jewry shifted most of its
operations to Washington, while also re-
taining a New York office.
"One factor in this shift was the recog-
nition that Washington plays such a crit-
ical role in moving the advocacy agenda
forward," said Martin Wenick, the
group's executive director. "It's the in-
ter-relationships with members of Con-
gress and the administration over a num-
ber of years that is the capstone of any
grass-roots effort."
Even regional Jewish agencies have set
up shop in Washington, one of them be-
ing the Jewish Federation of Metropoli-
tan Chicago, which has maintained its
own office in the district for six years.
"We found that the national staff of the

he powerful pro-Israel community is
both a cause and a beneficiary of
this geographic redistribution of
Jewish clout.
"I'd say the biggest factors in the move
to Washington were the historic, momen-
tous developments of 1967," said Mr.
Bookbinder, former American Jewish
Committee official.
"The Six Day War was the most dra-
matic reminder and challenge to Jews of
the vulnerability of Israel, the need to
pay greater attention to American sup-
port for Israel."
The growth of Israel's foreign aid and
the dramatically increased military ties
between the two countries are the most
visible results of this growing focus on
Washington, Mr. Bookbinder said.
However, the rapid development of the
American-Israel Public Affairs Commit-
tee (AIPAC) into an exemplar of modern
lobbying had a profound impact on
Washington's corps of Jewish activists,
and it helped turn the sights of politically
involved Jews around the country toward
the capital district.
"AIPAC focused a lot of attention in
the Jewish community on Washington,"
Mr. Bookbinder explained. "During this
period, AIPAC was a product of our
growing interest — but it was also a con-
tributing factor."
AIPAC was able to integrate its far-