JEWISH GROUPS FUNDED 62 CONGRESSIONAL JUNKETS TO ISRAEL LAST YEAR
FORWARD - Two of America's most influential Jewish organizations are
gearing up for their first direct confrontation with the incoming,
Democratic-led Congress. At issue are two key congressional perks,
targeted for elimination, that Jewish organizations rely on to achieve
community goals: overseas junkets, including dozens of trips to Israel
each year, funded by Jewish organizations; and an estimated $25 million
a year in earmarked funds for Jewish communal projects. Both the trips
and the earmarked funding face possible elimination as part of the
Democrats' pledge to fight corruption on Capitol Hill. . . .
With 41% of voters pointing in exit polls to corruption and scandals as
an "extremely important" factor in how they voted last month, the
Democratic victory is widely seen as a call for an overhaul of
congressional ethical standards. . .
All-expense-paid tours to Israel are among the most common overseas
trips made by members of Congress and their aides. Watchdog groups,
using data from congressional filings, have reported that Israel is the
leading destination for privately sponsored congressional trips. In the
years 2000 to 2005, 164 of the 1,922 overseas congressional visits were
to Israel. In the past year, 62 Congress members and staffers visited
Israel on trips funded by pro-Israel and Jewish groups. Most of the
junkets are sponsored by the main pro-Israel lobbying group, the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee, through its sister
organization, the American Israel Education Foundation. The foundation
is the second-largest sponsor of overseas trips.
Officials from several Jewish organizations have been holding intense
talks with Democratic staffers over the past week to ensure that Israel
educational trips will be exempt from the new restrictions, but several
sources said it is too early to determine where the Democrats are
heading with the legislation. . .
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