American Jewish Organizations and Israel

By Lee O'Brien. Washington, DC: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1986. 319 pp index. $24.95 (cloth).

Reviewed by Rex B. Wingerter

When it comes to pressuring Congress and the White House to support Israel, the pro-Israel lobby has no peers and only distant challengers. One sign of the lobby's strength: when Gramm-Rudman was forcing cut-backs in many domestic programs, the 99th Congress allocated $3 billion in foreign aid to Israel and approved a Defense Authorization Bill that made Israel eligible for millions of dollars in US government contracts. As one pro-Israel lobbyist put it, "We got it all."

How did the American Jewish community, only 5.5 million strong and comprising about two percent of the total population, achieve such singular success? The primary reason is organization, as Lee O'Brien masterfully shows in her penetrating review of Jewish pro-Israel organizations. Over 200 national Jewish organizations exist, making the Jewish community "the most institutionally organized minority group in the United States," writes O'Brien. What's more, American Jewry is politically active: at least one million are members of official Zionist organizations. When combined with high voter participation—roughly 90 percent of America's Jews participate in national elections, compared to a national average of 40-50 percent—and substantial financial gift-giving to political parties and candidates, the organized Jewish community stands as a formidable force in American national politics.

O'Brien reviews over two dozen of the best-known American Jewish organizations and concludes that while no single, monolithic pro-Israel lobby exists, a wide array of pro-Israel groups and individuals effectively coordinate their activities.

The author details each institution's history, purpose, and interaction with other Jewish organizations. She classifies organizations into four groups: Zionist, community, funding, and pro-Israel lobbying. Zionist organizations spur Jewish immigration to Israel. Community organizations protect and enhance Jewish life in America. Funding organizations channel private American resources to Israel.

Groups in the first three categories have been remarkably successful. The majority of American Jews have visited, albeit not settled in, Israel. The American Jewish Congress (AJC) and the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League (ADL) are prominent fixtures in the civil rights movement. And American Jewry now sends almost a billion dollars a year to Israel. There is much overlap in the organizations' activities, and O'Brien writes that "Israel support work stands at the head of virtually all" the institutions she examined.

This is underscored in O'Brien's fourth classification, the pro-Israel lobbying groups. These are usually referred to as the Jewish or Israel lobby, but O'Brien shows they often work closely with institutions in the other three categories. The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Israel's only legal lobby in the US, frequently joins with ADL and AJC to lobby Congress. In the early 1980's, Jewish representatives met with White House, Defense Department, or State Department officials almost every other day! O'Brien's account also shows how pro-Israel Political Action Committees (PACs) have steadily increased in both size and influence over the years.

The author shows that American Jewry's support for Israel arises from a combination of domestic and international factors. The most significant factor was the 1967 Middle East war. O'Brien makes it clear that the "Israelization" of American Jewish organizations is directly related to concern by the US Jewish community for Israel's security. For American Jews, Israel symbolizes their bond to world Jewry. Moreover, the "centrality and priority of Israel" for American Jewry, says O'Brien, has taken its toll on traditional Jewish liberalism. "Virtually all the organizations discussed in this book," she concludes, "provided at least tacit support to such Israeli actions as increased settlements, the invasion and occupation of Lebanon, and arms trade with authoritarian regimes in Latin America and elsewhere."

O'Brien's awareness of the larger political and social forces at work adds an important dimension to her calm and detached analysis. She argues, for example, that Israeli interests on Capitol Hill are pursued successfully partly because the White House has deemed Israel to be an important US strategic interest. She also notes that potential schisms in the American Jewish community are tempered by wider political events in the US. O'Brien's highly readable review of the structure and dynamics of major American Jewish organizations, and how they maintain popular US support for Israel, offer useful insights and valuable information for every reader.

Rex B. Wingerter is a Washington, DC-area lawyer and writer. His monograph on pro-Israel PACs and the US Congress will be published by the American Educational Trust.