The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, is holding its 2018 policy conference in Washington, DC, on Sunday, an event meant to underscore its outsized influence inside America’s corridors of power by hosting key Congressional leaders; the US vice president; the US ambassador to the UN; and several foreign leaders.
This year’s conference will crown several of AIPAC’s accomplishments in advancing its pro-Israel agenda in Congress and in the White House.
Al Jazeera reported that key to AIPAC’s congressional agenda this year will be to support Israeli goals of curbing Iran’s rising power and influence in the Middle East, something Israel sees as a threat to its own economic and military superiority in the region.
AIPAC also seeks to limit US financial support for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and to target the BDS movement for its efforts against the Israeli occupation.
Established in 1951 by Jewish American leaders as an interest group to advance Israeli objectives in the US, AIPAC has evolved into one of the country’s most powerful lobbying organisations.
