Intensive lobbying by close to 8,000 AIPAC delegates last week got 326 327 members of the U.S. House of Representatives to sign on to a leadership letter asking Hillary Rodham Clinton to keep disputes with Israel behind closed doors. (Here’s our most recent brief.)
That’s three quarters of the House in three days, and AIPAC’s got what to shvitz about:
AIPAC applauds House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Republican Whip Eric Cantor(R-VA), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Mideast subcommittee Chairman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) and Ranking Member Dan Burton (R-IL) for their leadership on this letter and for the unprecedented speed with which the effort took place.
As the House letter to Secretary Clinton underscores:
"The United States and Israel are close allies whose people share a deep and abiding friendship based on a shared commitment to core values including democracy, human rights and freedom of the press and religion. Our two countries are partners in the fight against terrorism and share an important strategic relationship.
"A strong Israel is an asset to the national security of the United States and brings stability to the Middle East…Steadfast American backing has helped lead to Israeli peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. And American involvement continues to be critical to the effort to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians."We recognize that, despite the extraordinary closeness between our country and Israel, there will be differences over issues both large and small. Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence, as befits longstanding strategic allies.
*I was relying on a slightly outdate release — it’s 327.
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