Morris Amitay, leading lobbyist for Israel and Soviet Jewry, dead at 86

Morris (Morrie) Amitay, a leading American lobbyist for Israel and Soviet Jewry, passed away last weekend, after a 16-year battle with cancer.

He was 86.

Born in New York City, Amitay, early in his career, was a member of the Foreign Service,  working in Italy, South Africa and the State Department from 1962-69.  He subsequently worked in the House of Representatives and as a legislative aide in the US Senate, before taking up the leadership of the Americas Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which he headed from 1974 to 1980.

AIPAC was founded by Isaiah L. Kenen, a Canadian-born American journalist, lawyer and philanthropist, and was originally called The  American Zionist  Committee for Public Affairs.

Various sources give different years for its founding, possibly, because for a long time, before the establishment of the State of Israel, Kenen, who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, was an American representative of the Jewish Agency, and more or less ran a one-man lobby for the Zionist enterprise.

The AZCPA changed its name in 1963, but it was not until Amitay succeeded Kenen, that the organization became a powerful force - financially, influentially, and in size of membership.

This was partially due to the fact that Amitay moved it to Washington, where he had greater access to government.

In 1981 Amitay set up his own political action firm which engaged in political lobbying on numerous issues, but primarily on behalf of Israel and Soviet Jewry.

Amitay believed that a strong and secure Israel was in America's best interests, and this is also the guideline for AIPAC activities today.

Amitay's influence on AIPAC

During his period at the helm of AIPAC, the organization grew considerably, and became more aggressive and confrontational, and continued in that vein with his successors.

Amitay was also the Director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), and founder and treasurer of the Washington Political Action Committee.

A passionate advocate for Israel, Amitay frequently appeared on radio and television to make the case for Israel.

During the period in which Jewish communities around the world united in the effort to secure the freedom of Soviet Jewry, Amitay was in the forefront of American Jewish lobbyists with key contacts in the Senate.