Via Proxies
At AIPAC, Obama and Netanyahu administrations listened to each other.
Ron Kampeas
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington
T
his relationship matters to me
one partner says.
"Show me," says the other.
Such conversations, as any couple can
attest, usually don't augur the happiest of
chats.
If this year's AIPAC policy conference
stopped well short of a full-blown spat
between the pro-Israel lobby and the
Obama administration, it was because
each side was listening to the other:
Obama officials listened to Israeli fears
about the Iranian nuclear threat, and
AIPAC and Israel's prime minister lis-
tened to the U.S. administration's insis-
tence on the inevitability of Palestinian
statehood.
"Relationships matter" was the motto of
last week's American Israel Public Affairs
Committee conference, heralded through-
out the cavernous Washington Convention
Center with billowing banners depicting
Israeli and American leaders embracing.
Barack Obama
Benjamin Netanyahu
Notably, the shot of President Obama
and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
smiling tightly and locked in a stiff hand-
shake was consigned to the center's shad-
owy corners.
The rejoinder, "Show me was Vice
President Joe Biden's plea to Israel to
facilitate peacemaking through a settle-
ment freeze.
"This is a 'Show me' deal," he said,
referring also to U.S. demands that the
Palestinians quell violence and that
neighboring Arab nations support the
peace process.
"Israel must work toward a two-state
solution," Biden told the conference, allud-
ing to Netanyahu's reluctance to utter the
"two-state" phrase. Israel must "not build
settlements, dismantle outposts and allow
Palestinians freedom of movement, access
to economic opportunity and increased
security responsibilities."
'Measured'
Biden prefaced his remark by warning del-
egates, "You won't like this, but ..."
Yet in a sign of the AIPAC crowd's pro-
clivities, Biden's call for a settlement freeze
earned measured applause. In fact, as the
7,000 delegates headed for Capitol Hill
for a lobbying blitz on May 5, one priority
was to get members of the U.S. House of
Representatives and the Senate to sign let-
ters to Obama encouraging steps toward a
"viable Palestinian state living side by side
with Israel?"
The letters also backed funding for
training Palestinian security services — a
hard sell among pro-Israel groups and in
Washington as recently as two years ago.
To be sure, the letters also bore skepti-
cism about Palestinian intentions, which
has been a hallmark of AIPAC's approach
for decades: The House letter called for an
"absolute Palestinian commitment to end
violence, terror and incitement?"
There was also a "Don't shout; the
neighbors are going to hear" sort of plea:
"The proven best way forward is to work
closely and privately together both on
areas of agreement and especially on areas
All About Relationships
Art Aisner
Special to the Jewish News
T
he 165 Detroiters who were
among the 7,000 people gath-
ered for the AIPAC Policy
Conference in Washington, D.C., May 3-5,
saw a parade of high-profile speakers
and dignitaries with deep roots in Israeli-
American cooperation.
Keeping with the official conference
theme of "Relationships Matter:' the
speakers and informational sessions
touched on how important the alliances
and associations crafted between the two
nations' people and political leaders are
and will be in dealing with future chal-
lenges.
"You don't get the feel for politics until
you see the politics in action. To see how
people built relationships over the years
and how important building those rela-
A20
May 14 2009
tionships was in order get work done was
pretty amazing," said West Bloomfield
resident Eugene Greenstein, who
attended his first American Israel Policy
Conference.
Iran In Crosshairs
Whether it was Vice President Joe Biden,
or Simone Hartmann, an Austrian
stockholder who through public outcry
prevented a company from helping
accelerate Iran's nuclear capabilities,
AIPAC is focused on Iran.
"What they always do is like to talk
big, like we're in the locker room,"
said Farmington Hills resident Mike
Goldfine, a veteran of at least four
AIPAC policy conferences. "But I sensed
real urgency and recognition from the
congressional leaders that they are
going to support the president to take
aggressive action on Iran. It's that big of
a problem!'
Greenstein and Goldfine
were among the 30 to 40
Detroiters who visited con-
gressional offices during a
day-long May 5 action blitz
on Capitol Hill.
Following the playbook
of some of Israel's biggest
detractors, AIPAC is pushing
divestment from companies
and organizations that do
business with Iran. AIPAC's
Vice President Joe Biden addressed the AIPAC
intent: to curb Iran's nuclear
policy conference.
ambitions.
On the Hill, the group lob-
bied U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., U.S.
would enable the president to impose
Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills,
sanctions on companies that assist Iran
and staff for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow,
import and produce products from
D-Mich., to support the Iran Refined
refined petroleum.
Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194 in
Though Iran produces crude oil, the
the House and S. 908 in the Senate). It
nation lacks the industrial base to refine