Pro-Israel Lobbyism in the United States: Key Representatives and Their Instruments for Achieving Political Goals

This article is devoted to the phenomenon of pro-Israel lobbying in the United States that is often defined as a model for other lobbies. The U.S. Jewish community coordinated its efforts and resources to become an interest group and then developed professional lobbying structures to make a difference in political decision-making. The paper aims to reveal the structure of the pro-Israel lobby and identify the main tools used by these lobbyists to achieve their goals. Although pro-Israel lobbying is often classified as ethnic lobbying, its agenda is political. Despite the activities of pro-Israel lobbyists are mythologized, the latter do not have the right of veto when it comes to determining the foreign policy vector of the United States, they can only try to facilitate the adoption of one or another decision. Key pro-Israel lobbying organizations use a number of tools that are common among lobbyists, including information, mobilization of supporters, using Political Action Committee (PAC) in elections. One of their unique tools is the organization of private trips for members of the U.S. Congress to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Special attention is paid to tendencies in the pro-Israel lobbying in the U.S. For several decades, pro-Israel lobbying activities were certainly associated with unconditional support for Israel and its policies, however, nowadays they are approached more nuancedly due to the deep fragmentation of pro-Israel lobbying structures. There is no single voice that can claim to represent the entire pro-Israel lobby.