By Alex Scheman
On March 1-3, 2020, 18,000 pro-Israel Americans attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conferece at the Walther E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. This annual event is the largest gathering of America’s pro-Israel community.
This conference celebrates the United States – Israel partnership and offers all of the attendees ideas for lobbying members of Congress in support of this relationship. Sophomore Ana Bernstein says “AIPAC is important because it teaches people [about] the relationship between Israel and America.”
In addition to numerous educational sessions, the AIPAC policy conference also featured keynote speeches given by American and Israeli leaders, including Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Danny Danon, and Former Vice President Joe Biden. In the educational sessions, attendees heard stories about the two nations’ partnership, as well as about Israelis’ heroism and innovations.
Several Leffell School students and faculty members attended AIPAC, and TLS even offered a select number of discounted seats for people from the school community. Having attended the conference, Junior Dov Bicky said, “It is just nice to be in an area where people share the same ideologies as you and express the same concerns.” In addition, Junior Sarah Grand said, “It was amazing to see that, despite the large range of political opinions present, 18,000 people unanimously care so much about Israel that they are willing to come to DC from all around to show that support.”