Community Magazine May 2019

42 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE DAVE GORDON T he largest pro-Israel gathering in the United States took place March 24th to 26th inWashington, DC at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conference. For three days, scores of top-ranking political officials – including Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – boasted unequivocal, unwavering support for the State of Israel. Speech themes revolved around partisan divisiveness, sanctions against Iran, rocket attacks against Israel, and the recent United States recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel’s sovereign territory. Every official whomentioned the anti-Israel BDSmovement (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) condemned it. Major announcements included future Israel embassy moves to Jerusalem by Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, and Honduras’ President Juan Orlando Hernandez. Speakers at the conference constantly criticized the controversial Democrat congresswoman fromMinnesota, Ilhan Abdullahi Omar. Omar’s statements, such as “Israel has hypnotized the world,” and “the U.S. government was bankrolled by the Benjamin’s” (i.e. Jews) are clearly anti-Semitic, and have been condemned by leading voices in the Jewish community. Vice President Mike Pence’s Statements U.S. Vice President Mike Pence stated that “history has already proven [Trump] to be the greatest friend of the Jewish people, and the State of Israel, ever to sit in the Oval Office of the White House.” Pence cited a number of the president’s pro-Israel moves, including the U.S. shut down of the Washington branch of the Palestinian Authority (as a consequence for the P.A.’s funding terror), the ending of tax money funding for UN-run Palestinian schools, the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and recent recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. “We stand with Israel because her cause is our cause, her values are our values, and her fight is our fight… because we believe in right over wrong, in good over evil, in liberty over tyranny,” V.P. Pence said. In addition, he touted the end of the “disastrous nuclear deal with Iran” that has been replaced with “a maximum-pressure campaign” of sanctions, thereby causing the Iranian economy to tailspin. “There’ll be no more pallets of cash to the mullahs in Iran,” Pence proclaimed. Politicos and Statesmen Line Up Behind Israel at AIPAC 2019