United States: "difficult to advertise with Aipac when you are Democrats"

Text by: Sylvie Noël

Several candidates for the Democratic nomination announce that they will not attend the conference of the powerful pro-Israeli lobby Aipac, which begins on Sunday, March 1. Analysis by journalist Sylvain Cypel, author of The State of Israel against the Jews, published by La Découverte.

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RFI : Bernie Sanders has announced that he will not attend the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee - Aipac -, whose policy he judges " contrary to the basic rights of the Palestinians ". How to analyze this decision?

Sylvain CYPEL : Bernie Sanders expresses a trend that is growing significantly in the United States, among American Jews, but not only. It is a change in the way we look at Israel. There was for example a vote in the Senate, a few months ago, on the penalization of the Boycott movement, divestment and sanctions - BDS -. Out of seven Democratic senators who are candidates for the primaries, six voted against the criminalization of this movement. They knew that from now on, in the democratic youth, the idea of ​​penalizing a movement which calls for the boycott of Israel does not pass any more. Sanders feels this movement within the Democratic Party and represents it. He may soon be the first candidate of the Jewish religion from one of the two major American parties for the presidential election. While being a fierce critic of Israeli politics.

Elizabeth Warren also said that she would not attend the conference…

It is also the first to have announced it, before Bernie Sanders. She was followed by Amy Klobuchar, then Pete Buttigieg. Even Joe Biden, who has attended the lobby conference several times in the past, did not confirm his attendance this year on Friday evening, when he is seen as a great friend of Israel. It has become difficult, when one is a Democrat, to display oneself with Aipac. This is the result of pressure from the Democratic electoral base, especially from young people. You have to understand that Aipac is a pro-Israel lobby, it is not the Jewish community as such. One finds for example inside the Aipac all the evangelical movement. In addition, Aipac has fully supported the policy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, almost without ever expressing the slightest doubt. What matters for this lobby is that there is not a sheet of cigarette paper between support for Israel and American policy.

So the distance between some of the Democrats and Aipac also has to do with Donald Trump's policy in the Middle East ?

Aipac has been a very important element in "passing" Donald Trump's policy to the United States. This policy even precedes Aipac's own wishes! Neither Aipac nor any Israeli government could have imagined that an American government would break with all the elements of international law voted at the UN, against colonization, the occupation of territories. When we are against Trump, we find ourselves against Aipac. So today you have many people who reject Aipac activism, including within the Jewish community. There is a widening gap on fundamental issues, a growing part of American Judaism is moving away from support for Israel.

Michael Bloomberg, another candidate for the Democratic primary, will speak to him before Aipac.

Bloomberg promised [if elected, ed] that he would not touch what Donald Trump did during his tenure. He will not abandon the idea of ​​the establishment of the American embassy in Jerusalem unlike Sanders. On the other hand, he affirms that he will return to a negotiating policy for the creation of a Palestinian state. This is not exactly the position of Aipac or that of Benyamin Netanyahu.

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