8 | MAY 12 • 2022 

PURELY COMMENTARY

opinion
AIPAC Safeguards Israel’s Precious Security 
by Reaching Out to All Stripes of Politicians
I

n the summer of 1973, 
supporters of Israel felt 
invincible. After thousands 
of years in exile, and more 
than two decades defending 
and supporting their newly 
reestablished state, the Jewish 
people finally believed they 
might be safe. 
Israel, a scrappy, 
upstart nation, 
had recently 
defeated five 
massive Arab 
armies and 
made a bold 
statement: We 
are here to stay.
Yet, by the fall things 
had changed. On Yom 
Kippur, the most solemn 
of Jewish holidays, Israelis 
emerged from synagogue 
shocked to find their nation 
under assault. Signs of an 
impending attack — warnings 
from foreign officials, 
intelligence reports — had 
been disregarded. We all 
learned the hard way the 
dangers of our collective 
complacency.
This moment is no 
different.
Today, just as in 1973, 
many supporters of Israel feel 
invulnerable. The Jewish state 
has never been stronger, with 
its booming economy, diverse 
and vibrant population, 
flourishing relations with 
more and more Arab nations, 
and a strong, bipartisan 
US-Israel relationship.
And yet, real threats are 
looming on the horizon. Iran, 
which has sworn to wipe 

Israel off the map and funds 
terror throughout the Middle 
East, is trying to acquire a 
nuclear bomb, threatening 
Israel’s very existence. 
International bodies like the 
U.N. are working to demonize 
and isolate Israel every day. 
And there is a growing 
movement around the world 
actively seeking to weaken — 
and ultimately destroy — the 
Jewish state.
This movement has even 
reached Congress, where 

a small but loud minority 
is working to unravel the 
U.S.-Israel relationship. 
For decades, the pro-Israel 
community has been effective 
in keeping the relationship 
strong, and Israel’s detractors 
have been kept at bay. But 
these enemies are growing in 
numbers and influence, and 
it is no longer enough only 
to speak out against them. 
They must be defeated in the 
political arena.

This is why I stand so 
firmly with AIPAC in its 
recent move into political 
fundraising. AIPAC’s sole 
mission is to support and 
strengthen the strategic 
relationship between the U.S. 
and Israel. That’s it. And this 
requires broad bipartisan 
support.
Of course, AIPAC’s 
commitment to 
bipartisanship raises 
important moral questions. 
How can I work with 

an organization whose 
PAC contributes to many 
of those Republican 
members of Congress who 
refused to certify the 2020 
election results? Didn’t 
these members’ actions 
fundamentally threaten our 
democracy? Doesn’t that 
make political contributions 
to those members treif? 
And do the contributions 
themselves have the potential 
to contribute to an erosion 

of democracy? The answers 
to these questions are not 
as clearcut as they might 
initially appear — or as 
divisive partisan groups 
would have us believe.
Yes, the refusal to certify 
the election results on 
January 6, 2021, is deplorable 
and posed a genuine threat to 
our democracy. Preservation 
of our democracy is a 
fundamental moral principle, 
one for which I fight every 
day.
When determining whether 
an organization’s political 
donations to members of 
Congress are treif, I look at 
two factors: will it help them 
get reelected and what is the 
meaning of the donation. 
Any honest assessment will 
acknowledge that a PAC’s 
contributions to individual 
members of Congress are 
limited by law to such 
an extent — $5,000 per 
candidate per election — that 
they do not impact election 
outcome. They are symbolic 
and are meant to send a 
message, in this case that a 
member’s policy positions are 
in support of the U.S.-Israel 
relationship.
And what does AIPAC 
hope to accomplish by 
building relationships with 
these individuals? Nothing 
short of pikuah nefesh — the 
preservation of human life — 
and building peace.
It does this by ensuring that 
the broadest possible group of 
Democrats and Republicans 
support legislation that 

Jacob 
Herber

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discusses the U.S.-Israel relationship at 2020 
AIPAC Policy Conference 

YOUTUBE

