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The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC, ) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States. The current President of AIPAC is Robert Cohen.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=www.aipac.org ) organization web site〕 One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the U.S., 〔(Why Opposing the Israel Lobby Is No Longer Political Suicide ) The Nation, 15 July 2014〕AIPAC has more than 100,000 members,〔AIPAC Web Site () Accessed April 18, 2007〕 seventeen regional offices, and "a vast pool of donors." It has been called "the most important organization affecting America's relationship with Israel,"〔(Learn about AIPAC ). (AIPAC Main Website ).〕 and one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States.〔 The group does not raise funds for political candidates itself, but helps organize to channel money to candidates.〔 Its critics have stated it acts as an agent of the Israeli government with a "stranglehold" on the United States Congress with its power and influence. The group has been accused of being strongly allied with the Likud party of Israel, and the Republican Party in the US, but an AIPAC spokesman has called this a "malicious mischaracterization."〔 AIPAC describes itself as a bipartisan organization,〔http://www.aipac.org/About%20AIPAC〕 and bills it lobbies for in Congress are always jointly sponsored by both a Democrat and Republican.〔(AIPAC: Claims and Facts 101 ) The Times OF Israel. 12/2/2012〕The Washington Post described the perceived differences between AIPAC and J Street: "While both groups call themselves bipartisan, AIPAC has won support from an overwhelming majority of Republican Jews, while J Street is presenting itself as an alternative for Democrats who have grown uncomfortable with both Netanyahu’s policies and the conservatives’ flocking to AIPAC."〔(Jeremy Ben-Ami, winning a place at the table for J Street ) The Washington Post, 26 March 2015〕 In 2005, Lawrence Franklin, a Pentagon analyst pleaded guilty to espionage charges of passing US government secrets to AIPAC policy director Steven Rosen and AIPAC senior Iran analyst Keith Weissman, in what is known as the AIPAC espionage scandal. Rosen and Weissman were later fired by AIPAC.〔(Guilty plea entered in Pentagon Spy Case ) Ynet News. 10/06/05〕 In 2009, charges against the former AIPAC employees were dropped. ==History== The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was founded in 1951 by Isaiah L. "Si" Kenen. Kenen originally ran the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs as a lobbying division of the American Zionist Council. Before that, Kenen was an employee of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to journalist Connie Bruck, AIPAC was incorporated in 1963 and headed by Kenen until his retirement in 1974. Kenen was "an old-fashioned liberal" according to former AIPAC volunteer journalist M.J. Rosenberg, who did not seek to win support by donating to campaigns or otherwise influencing elections, but was willing to "play with the hand that is dealt us."〔 Michael Oren writes in his book, ''Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present'', "Though founded in 1953, AIPAC had only now in the mid-70s, achieved the financial and political clout necessary to sway congressional opinion. Confronted with opposition from both houses of Congress, United States President Gerald Ford rescinded his 'reassessment.'"〔Michael Oren (2007). ''Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present'' (New York: W.W. Norton & Company) p. 536. 〕 George Lenczowski notes a similar, mid-1970s, timeframe for the rise of AIPAC power. "It (Carter Presidency ) also coincides with the militant emergence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as a major force in shaping American policy toward the Middle East." He further notes that this period also coincides with a major shift in Israeli government policies related to the election of Menachem Begin in Israel. In 1980, Thomas Dine became the executive director of AIPAC, and developed its grassroots campaign. By the late 1980s, AIPAC's board of directors was "dominated" by four successful businessmen—Mayer (Bubba) Mitchell, Edward Levy, Robert Asher, and Larry Weinberg. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「American Israel Public Affairs Committee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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