AFSI: A Brief History
For more than half a century, Americans for a Safe Israel has been on the frontlines of pro-Israel activism in the United States.
AFSI was established in 1970 at the initiative of Shmuel Katz, the one-time Member of Knesset and author of Battleground, the definitive study of the roots of the Arab war against Israel. At the time, American Jewish and Zionist organizations were largely silent in the face of U.S. pressure on Israel. AFSI’s founders were determined to build a new kind of pro-Israel movement—one that would vigorously defend Jewish rights to the Land of Israel and forcefully counteract Israel’s critics.
AFSI’s founders, Erich Isaac (who became its first chairman), Rael Jean Isaac, Milton Arfa and Haim Leaf, were soon joined by Herbert Zweibon, who took the major role in building the new organization and led it for many years. Chapters were created around the country and began mobilizing grassroots support for Israel. Edward Alexander and other pro-Israel scholars established an Academic Advisory Committee that demonstrated AFSI’s growing intellectual heft.
AFSI quickly distinguished itself as the only organization willing to tackle the growing problem of leftwing Jewish attacks on Israel. Rael Isaac’s landmark investigative report revealed the extremism of Breira and brought about the downfall of that group. Similar exposés by AFSI in the years to follow unveiled the destructive anti-Israel activities of New Jewish Agenda, the New Israel Fund, and the American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers).
AFSI also proved itself ahead of the curve with its groundbreaking efforts to build relationships with previously under appreciated allies. AFSI developed the first-ever ties between friends of Israel and conservative Members of Congress in the 1980s and built bridges to pro-Israel evangelical Christians. These initiatives uncovered vast reservoirs of support for the Jewish state throughout America.
AFSI’s pioneering campaigns against anti-Israel media bias helped inspire the creation of many of the media monitoring organizations that later emerged. The acclaimed AFSI-sponsored documentary film, NBC in Lebanon, set a new standard in challenging media coverage of Israel. AFSI’s research also caught the Miami Herald’s correspondent in Israel in a plagiarism episode, which put Israel’s media foes on notice that somebody was keeping an eye on them.
The Oslo accords posed a unique challenge to American Jewry. While other pro-Israel organizations were reluctant to acknowledge the deep flaws in Oslo’s premise, AFSI told the truth about the grave risks to Israel and the trampling of Jewish rights in the Land of Israel. AFSI’s monthly publication, Outpost, edited by Rael Isaac and Ruth King, served as a powerful and informative voice to the Jewish community and beyond about the dangers of Oslo. Events soon proved them right.
Efforts by the State Department to pressure Israel into surrendering the Golan Heights ran into a wall of opposition organized by AFSI. In publications, rallies, and Capitol Hill lobbying, AFSI challenged the proposal to station U.S. troops on the Golan as contrary to both American and Israeli interests. An amendment introduced in the U.S. Senate at AFSI’s initiative highlighted the risks of the Golan troops proposal. Today, the Golan is a secure part of Israel.
Guided by devoted lay leaders and skilled executive directors such as Peter Goldman, Helen Freedman, and others, AFSI established itself as one of the most outspoken and influential pro-Israel organizations in the United States. Through publications, programs, and missions to Israel, AFSI continues to educate the American public, the Jewish community, the news media, and government officials. It speaks out for Jewish rights, combats international pressure on Israel, and provides pro-Israel activists with the crucial tools they need to advocate for Israel on the battlefield of ideas.