What is the pro-Israel lobby?
US aid to Israel – Military aid: 2.25bn – Economic aid: 237m – Immigration aid: 40m – Other: 0.5m Source: CRS report for US congress, 2006 figuresThe lobby is made up of dozens of pro-Israel political action committees that draw a large part of their support from the US Jewish community and provide funding to presidential candidates. But Christian Zionists, who are among the most vociferous supporters of Israel in the US, also play a major role. They believe that by strengthening and supporting the state of Israel, they are more likely to bring about the “second coming” of Jesus as prophesied in the Bible. At the lobby’s vanguard is the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), which works mainly in US congress. It boasts its recent “victories” include the US decision to brand Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, securing US aid to Israel and freezing US aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority in 2006. Money and power Defenders of the Israel lobby say tha
