There’s been much talk that some of the older, mainstream Jewish organizations are being eclipsed among younger Jews by fresher upstarts like J Street. Whether that’s true or not, there’s no question who is the king in attracting Washington summer interns to its programs: AIPAC.
The pro-Israel lobby group had a packed house of 700 students, we’re told, attend its "Summer Seminar Series" program with Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), some of whom waited in line for 90 minutes. And in order to get 700 students into the room, AIPAC had to remove all the chairs and make everybody stand — with even more students having to be turned away.
Of course, AIPAC does have a big advantage in attracting people to its events. It has close to two dozen interns in its D.C. office, and they hit the Hill in the days before such events, handing out information to interns in congressional offices. (Full disclosure: I once did this myself, as an AIPAC intern 19 summers ago.)
AIPAC’s final Hill event of the summer, featuring Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.), takes place on Monday.
