Blinken to address AIPAC meeting for first time as secretary of state

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will deliver a speech at a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington on Monday morning, his office says.

It will be his first speech to the pro-Israel lobby as secretary. He spoke last year at a conference of the more dovish J Street.

Also addressing the Monday-Tuesday AIPAC Policy Summit will be US Senators John Barasso and Robert Menendez, and Representatives Mario-Diaz Balart and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Some 500 AIPAC activists are slated to attend the confab and will hold “430 lobbying appointments with Democrats and Republicans to urge Congress to support full funding for security assistance to Israel, adopt new initiatives to strengthen and expand the US-Israel relationship, increase pressure on Iran, and take steps to broaden and deepen normalization among Israel and its Arab neighbors,” says an AIPAC spokesperson.