After AIPAC and J Street, Israel's third lobby: ZPAC?
March 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to leave for the United States for his traditional standing ovation performance before the delegates of AIPAC's annual conference. But he is also headed for a more daunting mission, to wit, his seasonal meeting with a much less sympathetic partner — US President Barack Obama. We will touch on this crucial meeting later, but first there is a story relating to the AIPAC conference. While the idea is still embryonic and has yet to become operative, it is nevertheless out there. The overtures are under way, donors are lining up and plans are being spun: America's right-wing Jewry is talking about establishing its own AIPAC, a counterweight to J Street. The temporary name is ZPAC, a jest of sorts, something like, "If they are A, then we are Z."
A right-wing Jewish attorney from Florida by the name of Joseph Sabag is said to be at the front of this nascent venture, yet behind this front are much more prominent names, some of whom are past — and maybe also present — donors to Netanyahu. This is an interesting idea, which, if materialized, could rock American Jewry to an extent.
Indeed, most American Jews, roughly 70%, identify with the Democratic Party. They will vote for the Democratic presidential nominee even if he is not a staunch supporter of Israel. Obama would be a case in point. The thing is that there is also a minority, which is no less opinionated and vocal, perhaps even passionate. Not all Jews who support Republicans are right wing (in the context of Israel's right wing), and by the same token not all right-wing Jews in the United States are Republicans. What is certain, however, is that American Jewry also consists of a robust and zealous backbone of passionate right-wing ideologues whose members have been traditionally opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state. They espouse views that do not conform to Netanyahu's current policy of a two-state solution, which he adopted in his 2009 Bar-Ilan address. These are well-off people associated with Israel's right wing and its variants over the years. People like late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (in his previous incarnation) and of course Netanyahu, who drew behind them a flock of admirers that reached deep into the pockets to extend their help.
Today, these Jews feel isolated. Netanyahu's path — at least the stated one — is not their own. J Street, they say in closed forums, supports the idea of a "state of all its citizens." From their standpoint, J Street is not a Zionist organization (an assumption that I factually dispute). According to their view, AIPAC is the government's mouthpiece; it will invariably support any Israeli government. In this respect, it is like the United Nations — it's neutral. What we have here is a situation whereby the left has a growing lobby in Washington (J Street). The Israeli government also has a huge lobby in Washington (AIPAC), and only we, they say — the real right wing that has not changed its positions the way Netanyahu has over the years — have no representation in Washington. We don't have an orderly mechanism to apply pressure on President Obama in such a sensitive situation as the one we are in right now. There is no organized Jewish lobby that will make it clear to Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry that the unrelenting pressure on Israel will have an adverse effect on Democrats in the next elections. There is no one to oversee this struggle and bring the authentic voice of Israel's right wing to American legislators, media and public.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/02/zpac-aipac-j-street-netanyahu-washington-mahmoud-abbas.html##ixzz2ukv295G9
