WMR has learned from two knowledgeable individuals that various Arab governments have been forced to use lobbyists affiliated with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) because Arabs have no chance of advancing their interests in Washington without the approval of lobbyists connected to Israeli interests.
Although the close ties between AIPAC and the American Turkish Council (ATC) are well-documented, especially after the disclosures of former FBI Turkish translator Sibel Edmonds, the links between AIPAC and lobbyists charging Arab governments exorbitant fees to advance their causes, is not as well known. A former State Department official told WMR that although most of the Israeli-connected lobbyists are close to the Israeli government, some, who are Jewish, are more independent of Israel. However, all are cashing in on opening doors for Arabs, including Palestinians, in Washington.
WMR was told by one Arab media source that CNN's Wolf Blitzer, a former official of AIPAC and a correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, has vetted a number of Palestinian officials and Palestinian-Americans for relatively favorable exposure on CNN who are "pre-approved" by the Israeli government. The practice seriously calls into question CNN's journalistic integrity in its coverage of Middle East issues.
The former State Department official pointed to Morocco as one country that has entered into a strategic partnership with the Israeli Lobby in Washington to advance Moroccan interests. The post of U.S. ambassador to Morocco has been held two American Jews with close ties to AIPAC since the Clinton administration. Clinton's ambassador to Rabat was Marc Ginsberg. He was followed Edward Gabriel who served until the end of the Clinton administration. President Obama's ambassador to Morocco is Samuel Kaplan, a Minneapolis lawyer and Democratic Party activist and fundraiser.
The former State Department official said that when a former Algerian ambassador to Washington discovered that he had to deal with AIPAC-affiliated lobbyists to advance Algeria's interests in Congress and the White House, he was appalled. The State Department official told him to take a page from the Moroccans on lobbying as an Arab envoy in Washington.
One person cited as a key in the Israeli Lobby shakedown of Arab governments is said to be Representative Jane Harman (D-CA), who was the subject of a brief FBI investigation for engaging in questionable activities with Israeli embassy officials and a major AIPAC funder over interceding with the Justice Department to stop an investigation of AIPAC espionage in Washington on behalf of Israeli intelligence.
Another country that plays the AIPAC lobbyist card is Egypt, which receives billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance, all vetted beforehand by Israeli lobbyist interests in Washington. Daniel Kurtzer served as George W. Bush's ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005. Prior to that posting, Kurtzer, the former dean of Yeshiva University, served as Bill Clinton's ambassador to Egypt. Kurtzer is now the commissioner of the Israel Baseball League.
