Strengthening the U.S.-Israel Relationship with 18,000 Friends

The following is my piece in the March 19, 2020 edition of the Philadelphia Jewish Link about the 2020 AIAPC Policy Conference in Washington, DC:

Strengthening the U.S.-Israel Relationship with 18,000 Friends

I have been to Washington, DC on many occasions, including several times when the purpose of my visit centered around efforts to further strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship. That being said, my visit to our nation’s capital in the beginning of March was an entirely new experience for me.

As I rode the Amtrak train down to DC early in the morning on March 1 and observed quite a number of other Jews making the same journey I was, I began to think about what was awaiting me at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center when I arrived. What was it going to feel like being one of 18,000 people gathering in the same place, for the same purpose?

The 2020 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference was everything I thought it would be. It was my first time at AIPAC’s annual mega event, and it certainly lived up to its billing as the preeminent conference in support of Israel in the United States.

From the long lines to enter the cavernous hall where the General Sessions were held, to the packed minyanim, including several hundred attendees who came to a 6:00 a.m. Shacharit minyan on Monday morning, it was evident that the AIPAC’s Policy Conference is a must for American Jews and other supporters of Israel.

The AIPAC Village, which occupied the lower level of the convention center, was remarkable. Aside from the various food offerings and entertainment opportunities, there was an array of incredible exhibits from various Israeli organizations and companies, as well as an Iron Dome missile defense battery that rose tall in the center of the room. Whether it was Leket Israel, United Hatzalah, Magen David Adom, Sheba Medical Center Field Hospital, United Airlines (which was showcasing its Premium Plus travel option for people heading to Israel), The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, or OurCrowd, I enjoyed not just seeing the exhibits, but also having the opportunity to speak with the exhibitors in order to gain a deeper understanding of all that they do to advance Israeli society in a multitude of ways.

We heard from President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, who spoke about his nation’s longstanding ties to Israel. He noted that his nation was the first to endorse the Balfour Declaration, proudly cited the existence of Theodor Herzl Street in Belgrade, and spoke about President Reuven Rivlin’s visit to his country several years ago. After noting that Serbia and Israel have always been with each other throughout history and are still friends today, President Vučić spoke about passing a Holocaust restitution bill, which resulted in the payment of more than 30 million Euros to Jewish municipalities in Serbia, and noted how he proudly displayed a yellow flag marked Jude outside the president’s building to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. He received applause when he declared that his country is going to open an official state office in Jerusalem with the Serbian flag.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared via video, received a tremendous ovation when he appeared on the large screens. “Israel will do what we need to do to defend ourselves and secure our future,” he said while speaking about Iran. “The best days of the U.S.-Israel alliance are still to come,” he declared. “Israel is here to stay, and the Jewish community is here to stay.”

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, International Spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces, discussed the threat coming from Lebanon and explained some of the ways that Israel is working to expose to the world what Hezbollah is trying to hide, noting that the IDF recently destroyed six Hezbollah attack tunnels, one of which was 220 feet deep and approximately a mile long. “Hezbollah looks for ways to kill, but we look for ways to protect life,” he said.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden appeared via video and spoke about the importance of standing up for the enduring partnership between the U.S. and Israel, as well as the need for the Palestinians to eradicate incitement and end the rocket attacks against Israel. “I will always call out anti-Semitism, whether it comes from the left, right or center,” he declared.

AIPAC’s lay leaders spoke about the organization’s work and the importance of getting involved. “Israel is stronger today than it has ever been and that is due in part to our work together,” said AIPAC Chair of the Board Dr. Mort Fridman.

Betsy Berns Korn, the new AIPAC President, gave a rousing speech and spoke about some of the challenges facing the pro-Israel community, while exhorting the crowd of 18,000 to get more involved. “Once among the best, most authentic expressions of bipartisan support in America, the U.S.-Israel relationship as we know it, is under attack,” she said. “Those who stand against the U.S.-Israel relationship must know: The pro-Israel community will work to defeat them.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House Majority Leader, gave a well-received speech, noting that he just made his 15th visit to Israel in August, when 41 of his House Democratic colleagues joined him on that trip together over 30 House Republican members, all of whom stood together at a press conference at the King David Hotel and spoke in one voice. He spoke firmly about the need to combat BDS, which he called “a discriminatory movement,” in the U.S. and in the UN, stating that, “America must not be fooled by BDS, and that is up to us.”

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, International Spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces, at the AIPAC Policy Conference

“It is up to all of us to ensure that our fellow Americans – in communities across the country – understand that our bipartisan support for Israel in Congress is a strategic asset for Israel and for America,” Hoyer said. “It is also vital that we make sure they know the history that requires and demands support for Israel’s sovereignty, survival, and success. When they forget how Democrats and Republicans have stood unequivocally against anti-Semitism, bigotry, and hate – those pernicious diseases that made the modern Jewish state so critical – we must remind them.”

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who received a standing ovation and big cheers, told the over 4,000 students in the room that, “America needs your voice more than ever.”

“Growing up, my mother was our temple president and kept a kosher house – but my parents taught me that Judaism is about much more than our rituals,” he said. “It’s also about living our values. For my parents’ generation, that meant realizing the dream of a Jewish Holy Land. And for us, it’s about revering the miracle that is now the modern state of Israel.”

“America’s safety and Israel’s safety are inextricably linked,” he added.

The crowd roared when Bloomberg said that Senator Bernie Sanders “is dead wrong” after calling AIPAC “a racist platform.”

“The reality is, AIPAC doesn’t fuel hatred. AIPAC works to combat it and the violence that it can produce,” Bloomberg said. “Israel should never be a football that American politicians kick around to score points.”

Vice President Mike Pence, who received loud cheers from the crowd, proudly noted that he has spoken at every AIPAC Policy Conference since he became Vice President. He went through a litany of actions taken by the Trump administration relative to Israel, including withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, shutting down the PLO office in Washington, DC, signing the Taylor Force Act into law, combating anti-Israel sentiment in the UN, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and declaring that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not illegal. He also spoke about the need to root out anti-Semitism from every part of our society, declaring that, “It is not just a threat to Jewish Americans and Jews around the world, it is a threat to us all.”

“We stand with Israel because her cause is our cause, her values are our values, her fight is our fight,” said the Vice President. “We stand with Israel because we believe in right over wrong, in good over evil, in liberty over tyranny.”

“The bond between our two people is woven in the hearts of the people of our countries,” he added. “It is unbreakable and so it shall always be… Israel and the United States will always stand together because America and Israel are more than friends. We are more than partners or allies. My friends, the United States and Israel are family – we are ‘mishpacha.’”

Vice President Mike Pence at the AIPAC Policy Conference

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who also got a big ovation, similarly reviewed some of the steps the Trump administration has taken to further the U.S.-Israel relationship. “Under President Trump, Israel is not a pariah, but a partner,” he said. He also spoke about what some other nations are doing to support and strengthen Israel. “The more the Middle East embraces Israel, the brighter its future will be,” he added.

Referring to Iran, which Pompeo called “the number one state-sponsor of anti-Semitism in the world,” he noted that, “the regime stokes hatred of Jews to serve their own, corrupt ends, through classroom textbooks, state media propaganda, and the poisoned declarations of their unelected leaders.”

The crowd embraced Rep. Nita Lowey, Chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, who is retiring at the end of the year. A true friend of Israel throughout her career, Lowey proudly declared that this was her 32nd AIPAC Policy Conference. “You can never take anything for granted and you can never predict the future, so we have to make sure the U.S.-Israel relationship remains strong,” she said.

Like Rep. Hoyer, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican Leader, spoke about the bipartisan trips to Israel that he has been part of. Noting that the U.S.-Israel relationship is mutually beneficial and a priority and that, “Israel has a right to defend herself from missiles, bombs, tunnels and knife attacks,” he said that, “our task is to maintain American support for Israel in both parties.”

After opening his remarks with a shout-out to Yeshiva University’s men’s basketball team, Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic Leader, got down to business, noting that, “the international community at the United Nations never misses an opportunity to single out Israel for condemnation.”

He spoke passionately about the U.S.-Israel relationship, stating that, “The safety and security of Israel must always be a priority of the United States. And as long as I am a leader in the Senate, support for Israel’s security in the Senate will be nonnegotiable.”

Schumer also addressed the critical need to ensure that U.S. support for Israel remains bipartisan. “The friendship between our two countries must be unshakeable,” he said. “The friendship between our countries must be unbreakable. Support for the friendship between our countries must not depend on which party you belong to. No matter what: we must keep the U.S.-Israel relationship bipartisan.”

He also stated unequivocally that, “the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States is a national crisis.”

“We cannot, and must not, allow anti-Semitism to gather any more strength, and we must do all we can to protect our vulnerable institutions,” he said. “So on this stage, surrounded by friends of Israel and the Jewish people, I call on Congress to quadruple – quadruple – funding to protect at-risk synagogues, shuls, and other houses of worship where our families gather – to provide hardened security so this will never happen again.”

There is no question that the rise in anti-Semitism was at the forefront of everyone’s mind at the AIPAC Policy Conference. I attended a breakout session entitled “Staying Safe: Responding to Threats Against the Jewish Community.” Naomi Mestrum, Deputy Director at the Center for Documentation and Information on Israel in The Netherlands, noted that while Jews make up a small percentage of the population, a large percentage of the hate crimes are aimed at the Jewish community. In a sign of the gravity of the current situation in Europe, she warned people not to wear a t-shirt with Hebrew writing on it in European cities.

Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, also talked about the “pandemic of anti-Semitism,” stating that “it’s not just ‘anti-Semitism,’ it’s ‘Jew hatred’ and ‘baseless hatred.’” Hoenlein said that, “we have to raise accountability” and that there should be mandatory sentences for those who incite and those who engage in anti-Semitic acts. “A society isn’t judged by if they have haters; it’s judged by how they handle haters.” “Anti-Semitism can’t just be a Jewish problem; it needs to be an American problem,” he added.

Mitchell Silber, a former NYPD counter-terrorism expert who recently took charge of a new initiative to help secure Jewish institutions in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County, NY, as part of a $4 million Community Security Initiative, spoke about the effort to protect 1.5 million Jews and approximately 2,000 Jewish institutions in the geographic area that he services. “The Pittsburgh shooting in October 2018 was like a 9/11 moment for American Jews,” he said while describing how the threats facing the Jewish community have increased in the past several years.

Patrick Daly, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer at Secure Community Network, focused on the need to continue collaborative efforts between law enforcement and the Jewish community, noting that, “there needs to be comprehensive and collective ways to deal with the attacks.”

While my time at the AIPAC Policy Conference was both quite busy and somewhat exhausting, the fact is that it is an experience like none other, and one which every member of the pro-Israel community should endeavor to be a part of. There is nothing like advocating for the U.S.-Israel relationship in our nation’s capital with 18,000 of your closest friends.