On Wednesday, the committee will hear from two expert witnesses regarding support for Israel who previously worked at a pro-Israel think tank with ties to AIPAC.
by Peter Castagno, Sludge
In 1991, former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Lee Hamilton claimed “there’s no lobby group that matches” the pro-Israel lobby. More than 30 years later, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel groups remain an important influence on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The committee’s current members have collectively received over $3 million in campaign contributions from pro-Israel donors, according to a tally of OpenSecrets information, and it routinely invites expert witnesses with ties to pro-Israel think tanks to testify before it.
On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Friend and Ally: U.S. Support for Israel after Hamas’ Barbaric Attack.” The two witnesses who will testify—Assistant Secretary of Near East Affairs Barbara Leaf and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Dana Stroul—are both former fellows at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a pro-Israel think tank co-founded in 1985 by former AIPAC president Larry Weinberg, his wife Barbi Weinberg, and former AIPAC deputy director Martin Indyk.

Former AIPAC employee MJ Rosenberg has described WINEP as a cut-out of the lobbying organization that was funded by AIPAC donors and staffed by AIPAC employees. He said it was originally AIPAC official Steven Rosen, who the U.S. government accused of espionage for the Israeli government, “who cleverly came up with the idea for an AIPAC controlled think-tank that would disseminate the AIPAC line but in a way that would disguise its connections.”
Leaf and Stroul both began working as fellows with WINEP in 2018 and left the think tank in 2021 when they joined the Biden administration.
Recent Posts
Mamdani’s Massive Victory Should Show Democrats Where The Party’s Future Lies
June 26, 2025
Take Action Now NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has thrown the drowning Democratic Party a life vest. Will its leaders use it?By Sam…
India Walton’s Advice For Zohran Mamdani
June 26, 2025
Take Action Now “I think that for him, the race ’til November needs to be staying on message—we can’t start to water it down…
AIPAC Has Too Much Influence On Congress, Says Rep. Ro Khanna
June 25, 2025
Take Action Now The antiwar California House Democrat answers tough questions from Mehdi and a live DC audience about Trump’s attack on Iran.By…
Zohran Mamdani’s Win Is the Beginning Of The End Of The Old Democratic Party
June 25, 2025
Take Action Now Mamdani’s NYC primary victory shows that the old tricks of the political establishment are dying out—and something new is being……