One reason for the lobby success in Congress is that some key members have been Christian Zionists. Former Majority Leader Richard Armey said in September 2002 that “my No. 1 priority in foreign policy is to protect Israel.” One would think that top priority for any US representative would be to protect America. But that is not what Armey said.

Tom DeLay was Armeys successor as majority leader. Morton Klein, president of ZOA, said DeLay “cared about Israel in every fiber of his being.” DeLay himself said he was “an Israeli at heart.”

There are also Jewish senators and representatives who work to make US foreign policy support Israel interests. In 2006 a record number of Jewish Americans were elected to House and Senate. Some of these legislators are ardent defenders of Israel. This includes Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Charles Schumer, and Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Robert Wexler (D-FL).

Waxman said after 2006 election that “there will be some Democratic chairmen who may not share all my views… on Israel.” But he made it clear that “they will not be chairing committees dealing with Israel and the Middle East.” He was right. The chair of House subcommittee that held hearing on February 14 2007 was Gary Ackerman (D-NY), another avid backer of Israel. The chair of larger Committee on Foreign Affairs was Tom Lantos (D-CA). One former AIPAC leader said Lantos “is true blue and white.”

But it is not only representatives themselves who tilt legislation in pro-Israel direction. Congressional staffers are at center of legislative process. They register positions of outside interest groups and parse different policy options for their bosses. Morris Amitay was former head of AIPAC. He said “There are a lot of guys at the working level up here [on Capitol Hill]… who happen to be Jewish, who are willing… to look at certain issues in terms of their Jewishness… These are all guys who are in a position to make the decision in these areas for those senators… You can get an awful lot done just at the staff level.”

Representatives from lobby groups sometimes participate directly in this process. They help Hill staffers draft legislation. They provide talking points that legislators can use in public. They help write “Dear Colleague” letters that legislators send to each other. They draft and circulate open letters to put congressional pressure on executive branch.

Source: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy