AIPAC is taking an incredible risk by making an unprecedented
full court press to get the bomb Syria resolution.   AIPAC’s
last big battle was in 1991 when it tried to get extra aid to
support Soviet Jewish refugees in Israel. President George H. W.
Bush said the extra aid (in the form of loan guarantees) would
only be provided if Israel froze West Bank settlement
construction. Prime Minister Shamir said no and Bush said: no
extra aid for you.  AIPAC descended on the Hill as they now are
over Syria, leading Bush to publicly say “I’m one lonely little
guy” up against “some powerful political forces” made up of “a
thousand lobbyists on the Hill.”  That battle did not end well
for AIPAC although it did for Israel. It led the Israeli
electorate to dump the rightist prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir,
in favor of Yitzhak Rabin. Israel did not get the extra aid
until Bush could provide it to a prime minister who pledged to
achieve peace with the Palestinians.  In that case, unlike this
one, there was no Congressional v