On Wednesday, the committee will hear from two knowledgeable witnesses concerning assist for Israel who beforehand labored at a pro-Israel suppose tank with ties to AIPAC.
In 1991, former chairman of the Home Overseas Affairs Committee Lee Hamilton claimed “there’s no foyer group that matches” the pro-Israel foyer. Greater than 30 years later, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and different pro-Israel teams stay an vital affect on the Home Overseas Affairs Committee. The committee’s present members have collectively acquired over $3 million in marketing campaign contributions from pro-Israel donors, in response to a tally of OpenSecrets data, and it routinely invitations knowledgeable witnesses with ties to pro-Israel suppose tanks to testify earlier than it.
On Wednesday, the Home Overseas Affairs Committee will maintain a listening to titled “Good friend and Ally: U.S. Assist for Israel after Hamas’ Barbaric Assault.” The 2 witnesses who will testify—Assistant Secretary of Close to East Affairs Barbara Leaf and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Protection for the Center East Dana Stroul—are each former fellows on the Washington Institute for Close to East Coverage (WINEP), a pro-Israel suppose tank co-founded in 1985 by former AIPAC president Larry Weinberg, his spouse Barbi Weinberg, and former AIPAC deputy director Martin Indyk.
Former AIPAC worker MJ Rosenberg has described WINEP as a cut-out of the lobbying group that was funded by AIPAC donors and staffed by AIPAC staff. He stated it was initially AIPAC official Steven Rosen, who the U.S. authorities accused of espionage for the Israeli authorities, “who cleverly got here up with the concept for an AIPAC managed think-tank that may disseminate the AIPAC line however in a manner that may disguise its connections.”
Leaf and Stroul each started working as fellows with WINEP in 2018 and left the suppose tank in 2021 after they joined the Biden administration.
AIPAC and WINEP oppose requires a cease-fire to the continued Israel-Hamas warfare. Israel shut off water, meals, and gasoline entry to the Gaza strip after Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault killed over 1,400 Israelis, exacerbating the territory’s humanitarian disaster. It has dropped 25,000 tons of bombs on the 140-square mile space over the past month, in response to human rights group Euro-Med Monitor.
