Likening AIPAC to Beit Shammai, ex-PM Barak suggests it presents immature voice on Israel

WASHINGTON — Former prime minister Ehud Barak tears into the AIPAC lobby during remarks at a virtual event hosted by anti-judicial overhaul activists.

“AIPAC [has] made it a rule to almost broadcast a unison of support for the government — not [just] in these last nine months, but let’s say in the last five years,” Barak tells USA for Israeli Democracy, a group made up of expats and American Jews.

“I’m yearning to hear mature voices from American leadership of the Jewish people in America,” continues Barak, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the government. “When you have issues that are in dispute in Israel, I would expect American Jewry to represent the same spectrum of voices. It’s more mature… We should not be immune [to] criticism.”

Comparing the current debate to the two ancient Jewish schools, the 81-year-old ex-premier urges those at the event to follow the path of the more openminded Beit Hillel, as opposed to the more stringent Beit Shammai, “who was so confident like AIPAC.”

The pro-Israel lobby has long maintained a policy of refraining from criticizing sitting Israeli governments and has largely avoided weighing in on the judicial overhaul, even as more and more establishment Jewish organizations in the Diaspora have raised alarm that it could harm Israel’s democratic character.

AIPAC brought more than two dozen Democrats to Israel last week and the group avoided meeting with anti-overhaul protest leaders despite their requests. It did, however, meet with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

A spokesperson for AIPAC does not immediately respond to a request for comment.