AIPAC asks for help against allegations in Pentagon probe
By Nathan Guttman
Haaretz Correspondent
WASHINGTON – THE pro-Israel lobby AIPAC sent a letter to all its supporters on Tuesday [September 7, 2004] asking for donations to help it combat the allegations leveled against it in the context of a counterespionage investigation at the Pentagon. According to media reports, the FBI suspects two AIPAC officials of receiving a classified document from a Pentagon official and then passing it on to Israel.
This is the first time since the story broke that AIPAC has contacted its supporters about the affair.
“We are writing to keep you informed and to ask for your help,” AIPAC President Bernice Manocherian and Executive Director Howard Kohr (right) said in their letter. “Decision makers in Washington will be measuring your commitment to AIPAC as an indicator of AIPAC’s overall strength.
One of the few ways they can gauge confidence in AIPAC is by looking at our relative financial strength.
“That is why today, we are asking you to make an additional contribution beyond what you have already pledged to AIPAC. Your generosity at this time will help ensure that false allegations do not hamper our ability or yours to work for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and a safe and secure Israel.
Saying that “the allegations are not just about AIPAC,” the letter noted that huge advertisements were recently placed in The Washington Times using the allegations to attack Israel. “The very essence of the U.S.-Israel relationship is under assault,” it said.
Manocherian and Kohr flatly denied the allegations. They also stressed that the scandal would not deter the organization from continuing to lobby Congress and the administration on Israel-related issues, particularly the fight against Palestinian terror and Iran’s nuclear ambitions.