The Prostrating politician at the feet of AIPAC

Every four years, almost all known political leaders, regardless of their party affiliations, come to the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) to renew their pledge to the state of Israel and prostrate before the mighty unbreakable idol of the Jewish lobby. Why shouldn't they? AIPAC offers public officials huge donations through its networks to get them re-elected. In 2019, AIPAC and its affiliates spent $2,962,107 on lobbying for Israel.

This year the AIPAC conference was different. Only one Democratic Party presidential aspirant, Bloomberg, a Jew by faith and race, was in person present at the meeting. Biden and Klobucher sent their video messages. Bernie Sander maintained his 30-year old tradition and refused to attend the apex body of Israeli supporters in the country. Even though Sanders was absent, he dominated the AIPAC as speakers after speakers targeted him for their hate and condemnation. The most prominent ones were the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel UN envoy Dany Dannon. The Israeli Prime Minister described Sanders as part of forces that are trying to break US-Israeli relations, and the envoy of the Jewish state called him a liar or an ignorant fool or both. He told Sanders that he was not welcome in Israel as he would not be allowed to re-enter Israel again.

The Democratic aspirant for the Presidential candidacy, Bloomberg, called Sanders dead wrong for saying that AIPAC promotes bigotry and hatred. He assured the lobby of his loyalty to Israel. The other two candidates Biden and Klobucher, also prostrated before the lobbying group, giving their words that they would remain committed to Israeli interests forever.

The Republican leaders, attending the conference were Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo, House minority leader as well as senate majority leader. In their speeches, they assured Israel of their undivided loyalty to the Zionist state.

The $330 million US tax dollars work hard for 8.6 million Israelis, mostly Jewish, as they pay some $3.6 billion annually to the state of Israel. According to the US congressional report, the US taxpayers have paid $143 billion to the state of Israel until 2019, an amount larger than the annual budget of at least 35 countries.

The US support to Israel stems from four main reasons:

1. Thirty-five percent of US citizens are evangelical Christians who believe that the return of Jesus would happen when all the Jews gather in Israel to build the Third Temple.
2. Liberals identify them with the Zionist movement that sought a homeland for Jews. They view Israel as the center of democracy and hope of the underprivileged.
3. Many Christians still live in guilt for letting one of them, Hitler, kill millions of Jews during the holocaust in Germany.
4. The US Administration feels that the Israeli-Arab conflict empowers the country in the Middle East and ensures a steady gas supply.

For these reasons, the US has never played the role of an honest broker in the conflict. It has always sided with Israel regardless of the plight of the Palestinians.

Over the years, many Americans, feeling frustrated with their Administration's one-sided support to Israel, started questioning the Israeli policy towards Palestinians. They began to demand equality for the people uprooted from their land by the settlers from Europe and the Middle East.

Bernie Sanders articulated their feelings when he said that the security of Israel does not mean denial of human rights to Palestinians. The growing anti-Israeli movement has shaken the Israeli lobby that is using all sorts of tactics to scare its opponents.

The pro-Israel groups are funding candidates heavily who are not questioning Israel's right to deny Palestinian their human rights. They hope to unseat candidates such as Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic primaries. They are also investing huge on the Biden campaign as others have backed off from the race.

Sanders has come under attack not only from AIPAC but several Hindu groups who support the paramilitary organization RSS and BJP of India. The United States India Political Action Committee, formed in 2012, began shifting to Republicans from Democrat in 2017. In 2018, it gave all its PAC money to Republicans. Sanders is no favorite with India lobby, which is a Hindu lobby as its members are from the RSS and BJP supporters in the US.

These two lobbies representing racist Israeli and Indian political elites, are certainly impacting the US elections.

The public needs to be aware of their influence.