The House of Representatives Building and the East Portico of the US Capitol. Photo: Flickr.
Over the last year, much of the political rancor involving the US-Israel relationship was focused on the presidential race. Yet historiographical evidence reveals that Congress plays an extremely important role in the US-Israel relationship.
In 1981, an intense lobbying effort on the part of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) helped convince the Reagan administration to abandon an $8.5 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia that included five Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) planes. As a result, the House voted to block the sale by a vote of 301-111, and while the Senate eventually approved the transaction, their approval only came after increased assurances on the part of the Reagan administration that Israel’s security would not be compromised.
Jewish groups from both sides of the aisle unwaveringly condemned the chaos on Capitol Hill, with Democratic and liberal groups blaming the president for inciting the violence. Conservative Jewish groups focused on the breakdown of the rule of law, which they vociferously lamented.
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives and Senate certified Joe Biden’s election as US President and Kamala Harris as Vice President.
By Jackson Richman, JNS
Jewish and Israel-related groups reacted to the mob invasion of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday by Trump supporters as members of Congress gathered in a joint session on Wednesday to certify U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Does anyone think the Chamber of Commerce is going to back these people?
(JTA) AIPAC hardly ever pronounces on any issue that does not relate to Israel. It’s also loath to criticize a sitting president.
But the preeminent pro-Israel lobby did both on Wednesday after rioters supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop the count of electoral votes that would formalize Joe Biden’s win.
“We share the anger of our fellow Americans over the attack at the Capitol and condemn the assault on our democratic values and process,” AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said in a statement posted to Twitter Wednesday evening. “This violence, and President Trump’s incitement of it, is outrageous and must end.”
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Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol s Rotunda on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
JTA AIPAC hardly ever pronounces on any issue that does not relate to Israel. It’s also loath to criticize a sitting president.
But the preeminent pro-Israel lobby did both on Wednesday after rioters supporting US President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol to stop the count of electoral votes that would formalize Joe Biden’s win.
“We share the anger of our fellow Americans over the attack at the Capitol and condemn the assault on our democratic values and process,” AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said in a statement posted to Twitter Wednesday evening. “This violence, and President Trump’s incitement of it, is outrageous and must end.”
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