When the government dropped its charges illegally conveying classified information against two former AIPAC employees, the pro-Israel community let out a huge sigh of relief. But the joy was hardly unqualified.
First and foremost, there remains the puzzlement of why the US government went after AIPAC to begin with. As was clear from the beginning, there was no case. Basically, the government argued that it was illegal to talk. Should anyone, without spying and without intent to spy, speak to a citizen of another country, he could be subject to prosecution that, in a nutshell, was the governments case. Thankfully, rulings by judges on the way to trial made it perfectly clear that this was not judicially sustainable.
There is another frustration and that is why AIPAC essentially tossed two of its loyal and, by all accounts, very effective employees to the prosecutorial wolves. It is certainly true that the governments case made it impossible for the two employees to continue under business as usual. AIPAC had to act. But AIPAC did not have to terminate them, let alone terminate them on the basis of poor performance (never specified). It would have been both right and effective had AIPAC simply said: We stand by our people and our methods. Since these employees are under indictment, they are suspended, pending the outcome of their trial.
At this stage, many individuals and Jewish organizations are asking why the reputations of the two employees had to be ruined for years. One is now suing AIPAC.
All this puts American Jewry in a bad light not to mention, all this is diversionary from the critical goal of defending Israel before its best friend: the US Congress.
Mostly, in treating their employees, Jewish organizations live up to the ethical obligations they represent. The exceptions, rare though they may be, are extremely damaging, with consequences that reach far beyond the organizations concerned.
Read the related news story on AIPAC.
