
This story originally appeared in MintPress News on July 1, 2022. It is shared here with permission under a Creative Commons license.
This month, the United Nationsβ Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and IsraelΒ foundΒ that the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine is the root cause of the decades-long conflict in the region. But as the probe gets underway, the Israel lobbyβs flagship organization, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is actively attempting to extinguish it.
In response to the inquiry led by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), members of Congress have initiated legislation to abolish the investigation in both the House and the Senate. On June 14, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen introduced the COI Elimination ActΒ S.4389. The bill is similar but not identical toΒ H.R.7223, also called the COI Elimination Act, introduced by Representatives Gregory Steube, Vincente Gonzalez, and Joe Wilson in March.
Both bills seek to abolish the UN inquiry as well as other UN groups in order βto combat systemic anti-Israel bias at the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international fora.β The legislation also calls for restricting US funding to the UNHRC by 25 percent of the amount budgeted. While the Senate bill only has three co-sponsors currently, the House version has nearly 70 signatories made up of mostly Republican representatives.
TheΒ UN inquiryΒ came as a result of the Israeli attacks on Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem in May 2021, with the purpose of investigating human rights abuses that occurred during that period. TheΒ US, Israel, and 19 other countriesΒ have sharply condemned the inquiry following the release of its first report.
In response to the inquiry led by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), members of Congress have initiated legislation to abolish the investigation in both the House and the Senate.
βWe believe the nature of the COI established last May is further demonstration of long-standing, disproportionate attention given to Israel in the Council and must stop,β US Ambassador to the UNHRC MichΓ¨le Taylor said during the 50th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, as the UN inquiryβs first report was being debated.
The State Department has also rebuked the UN inquiry, its spokesperson Ned PriceΒ remarking,
β¦[W]e firmly oppose the open-ended and vaguely defined nature of the UN Human Rights Councilβs Commission of Inquiry on the situation in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, which represents a one-sided, biased approach that does nothing to advance the prospects for peace.β
The UNHCR did not respond to press queries on the congressional bills, instead reiterating the COIβs goals and that all member states must abide by its actions. However, a UNHCR spokesperson did tellΒ MintPress NewsΒ that,
The mandate of the Commission of Inquiry was supported by a majority of member states of the Council and the allocation of a budget was then approved by the General Assembly. All members of the Human Rights Council are expected to fully cooperate with its decisions, as reaffirmed in General Assembly resolution 50/251 of 2005.β
βAIPAC-DRIVENβ
According toΒ Jewish Insider, AIPAC has spent this month lobbying on Capitol Hill for more members of Congress to support the COI Elimination Act as part of its first in-person National Council meeting in Washington, DC, since the start of the pandemic.
Their efforts appear to have succeeded as nearly 40 House Representatives signed onto the bill over the last two weeks.
βItβs simply another AIPAC-driven effort to demonize the UN in order to obfuscate the cruel and inhumane realities on the ground in Israel-Palestine and to deny the apartheid nature of the state,β historian Walter L. Hixson toldΒ MintPress News.
AIPAC has also pressured Congress on other issues during their recent Capitol Hill tour, such as continuing military aid to Israel, supporting the Stop Iranian Drones Act, and rejecting a Senate letter urging the US government to investigate the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
The author of Israelβs Armor: The Israel Lobby and the First Generation of the Palestine Conflict, Hixon explained that AIPAC activists donβt have a secret lobbying tactic but rather pressure members of Congress through their financial clout.
βItβs what they always do,β he said. βThey let them know that people who support them can get support from AIPAC and people who oppose them can expect their next campaign opponents to be funded by AIPAC.β
βItβs pretty ruthless lobbying that exerts its influence, and unfortunately there are a lot of members of Congress who are very easily swayed, unprincipled, fearful and tow the AIPAC line,β Hixson added.
In addition to lobbying members of Congress directly, AIPAC is alsoΒ encouragingΒ Americans to urge their representatives to support the legislation.
Yet they are not the only Israel lobby organization tackling the COI. Richard Goldberg, senior advisor at the Israel lobby group Foundation for Defense of Democracies, published an op-ed in theΒ New York PostΒ railing against the COI. Pro-IsraelΒ groupsΒ Bβnai Bβrith International, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and theΒ National Jewish Advocacy CenterΒ have also come out against the COI.
AIPAC has also pressured Congress on other issues during their recent Capitol Hill tour, such as continuing military aid to Israel, supporting the Stop Iranian Drones Act, and rejecting a Senate letter urging the US government to investigate the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Sent last week, a letter signed by nearly half of the Democrats serving in the Senate calls on President Joe Biden to directly involve the US in probing Aklehβs killing.
AIPAC talking points sent to lawmakers ahead of the letterβs publication and seen by Israeli newspaperΒ HaaretzΒ said βthe circumstances surrounding the death of Ms. Abu Akleh remain unclear despite the hasty conclusions of various media outlets,β whereas the letter βimplies both Israeli culpability and inability to conduct an objective, thorough investigation of the incident.β
AIPAC STILL KING
While the COI Elimination Act has received significant backing, the billβs stated purpose is far-fetched. The US cannotβwith a stroke of a penβunilaterally eradicate a world agency investigation.
However, according to Hixson, the country does have considerable control over the UN and by withholding a quarter of funding (as promised within the bill) can prove detrimental to the UNβs efforts.
βThe UN has always beenβfrom its inception in 1945βheavily influenced by the United States,β Hixson said, noting how its headquarters are in New York and the US has been a longtime funder of the entity. βThey canβt dictate to the UN to change a policy, but they can certainly hurt it financially and influence decision-making,β he added.
Whether the bill comes to fruition remains to be seen. But Hixson believes it has a chance, especially given that Democrats are signing onto it as well. Currently, nine Democrats have sponsored the House version and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal has signed on to the Senate act.
βAIPAC is very determined. Theyβve increased their funding. Theyβve increased their office space. Theyβve increased their number of personnelβ¦ Itβs as powerful as any lobby really in Washington, and probably more powerful than the gun lobby.β
Walter L. Hixson, historian and author of Israelβs Armor: The Israel Lobby and the First Generation of the Palestine Conflict
Israel lobby experts haveΒ suggestedΒ that AIPACβs influence on Capitol Hill is waning as more Democratic politicians and American Jews become increasingly critical of the Israeli governmentβs actions. For example, experts have speculated that AIPAC establishing political action committees last year is just a desperate attempt to cement its authority over Washington politics.
While Hixson agrees, he also asserts that AIPAC still remains quite influential. And with in-person lobbying again a feature of AIPACβs work as pandemic restrictions dissipate, the organization may continue to see its influence balloon.
βAIPAC is very determined. Theyβve increased their funding. Theyβve increased their office space. Theyβve increased their number of personnel,β he said. βIt remains a very powerful lobby, not just for a foreign policy for a foreign country, but period. Itβs as powerful as any lobby really in Washington, and probably more powerful than the gun lobby.β
Nevertheless, public support for Israel has waned substantially in the last decade, mirrored by an increasing sympathy for the Palestinian cause, especially among Democrats. According to aΒ February Gallup poll, sympathy for Israelis has declined from 64% to 55% from 2013 to 2022 and climbed from 12% to 26% for Palestinians.
While Israel might be losing the battle for public opinion, in the realm of political influence in Washington, it is still winning the war.