WASHINGTON – The American Israel Public Affairs Committee will not hold its annual policy conference in 2022, the organization announced on Twitter Monday, citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
“We hoped that by now we would have had greater certainty, more clarity, and the definitive answers needed to determine whether we can safely host a Policy Conference in Washington, DC in 2022,” AIPAC president Betsy Korn wrote to AIPAC members.
“The health and safety of our conference delegates is our top priority each year,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, there are still too many questions that remain unanswered to move forward responsibly, and thus we have made the decision to cancel the 2022 AIPAC Policy Conference.”
She went on to say the decision “may seem surprising as we appear to be entering a post-pandemic world. However, with uncertainty around the continued spread of COVID, we still have a fragile and uncertain path back to normal travel and mass gatherings.”
This will be the second year in a row the pro-Israel group has canceled its annual policy conference. Last May, as the US was in the middle of the first wave of the pandemic, the organization announced it would cancel the 2021 conference, traditionally held in March. According to the AIPAC source familiar with the discussion, the decision was made because it was “not practical to plan the event a few months in advance as the Delta variant is spreading.”
“Building a safe ‘Policy Conference City’ for 18,000 participants over three days requires more than a year of advance planning, including irrevocable contracts with the Convention Center, hotels, catering, and many other vendors who help bring the conference to life,” Korn wrote.
She noted that the organization is now at the stage of planning that requires it to make those financial commitments.
“After considerable review, we feel strongly that signing contracts at a time of such continued uncertainty about the safety of the conference and our delegates would be an irresponsible use of the resources you entrust us to use wisely.
“While we will not host a Policy Conference in 2022, our vital and sacred work of strengthening the US-Israel relationship continues,” she added. “We plan to host in-person programs when we determine that it is safe to do so.”