News reports regarding the leaked audio recording of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) session have focused entirely on the names of Trump administration figures whom the organization considers allies of Israel, while ignoring the most dangerous aspect of the recording—what they perceive as a threat and are planning to prevent.
The AIPAC serves as Israel’s lobby in Washington.
The recording captures events from a closed session at a conference that was leaked to the media.
The lobby’s president listed the most important “allies” in the Trump administration and how they became so. He mentioned Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, and John Ratcliffe, the Director of Central Intelligence, as well as Mike Waltz, the National Security Advisor, whom Trump moved from that position to head his country’s mission to the United Nations.
All three are former members of Congress. The president explained the long years that the lobby gradually invested in laying the initial groundwork for a long-term relationship that strengthens over time.
He recounted Ratcliffe’s candidacy for the House of Representatives, stating, “So I said to myself, this guy looks like he can win, and we need to talk to him.”
The implication was to gauge his willingness to support Israel, and based on that, to fund his election campaign.
After the victory, the lobby ensures close communication channels between the Congressman “and the lobby’s leaders in his district” so that “if something happens and we need someone to talk to, the relationship is good.”
In other words, the AIPAC spends significant sums on candidate campaigns, and once one of them wins, it opens lasting communication channels for use when necessary.
There’s nothing new in the names of the allies, nor even in the lobby’s modus operandi.
What is new is that all this effort exerted by AIPAC and other organizations supporting Israel in Washington is no longer capable of single-handedly standing against the genocide in Gaza.
For example, the House of Representatives was forced to withdraw a bill supported by AIPAC that would amend the 2018 law against boycotting Israel, so that it would not only penalize American individuals and institutions that boycott, but also international organizations!
The bill was withdrawn after strong opposition not only from the left, this time, but also from Trump’s party, especially the radical right! To be fair, Congress is currently overflowing with countless bills to support Israel, and most of them will likely be approved.
However, there remain indicators pointing to turbulence ahead.
This is closely linked to the most concerning aspect of the leaked recording. It revealed the speakers concern about Israel’s negative image in American public opinion, thanks to the role played by supporters of Gaza in universities and on the streets, as well as the widespread dissemination of Gazan suffering on social media.
This is where the most dangerous project comes in – Artificial Intelligence.
Because the voices of those advocating for Palestine have resonated widely online, the lobby’s greatest fear is that they will automatically be part of the content that feeds AI programs. This means that within a few years, AI could become a tool that is not biased towards Israel and provides users with more accurate information that undermines its propaganda!
What is now happening at Meta, the owner of Facebook and other platforms, indicates that the project to control artificial intelligence content has begun in earnest.
Newspapers published a report revealing that Meta is teeming with American and Israeli AI specialists who served in the Israeli army, including the American head of the “Artificial Intelligence Division” at Meta.
In short, it isn’t a surprise that the Israeli army has succeeded in infiltrating WhatsApp groups that did not necessarily discuss topics related to Israel, assassinating everyone in them simply because one person in the group was alleged to belong to Hamas.
A distinguished scholar in political science with a specialization in American affairs, Manar al-Shorbagy holds a Doctorate from Cairo University’s Faculty of Economics and Political Science (1994).
Her expertise is further underscored by a Diploma in Human Rights Studies from the International Institute of Human Rights Studies in Strasbourg, France (Summer 1994).
She currently serves as Senior Advisor on American Affairs at the Arab Center for Development and Future Studies (since 2006) and a Professor of Political Science at The American University in Cairo (since Fall 2000).
Shorbagy’s prior roles include Director of Academic Affairs and Assistant Professor of Political Science at AUC’s Center for American Studies (2004-2006) and a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. (July-December 2003).
