The American Zionist Council (AZC) was a pro-Israeli lobby group in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

founded in 1949. It represented nine nationwide Zionist organizations in matters related specifically to

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

, following the establishment of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It was founded as a tax-exempt umbrella organization of American Jewish groups, which focused on Israel and included the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Hadassah, and other Zionist organizations active in the United States. It acted as an umbrella group for public relations, outreach, and lobbying on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

. Between 1951 and 1953, its Washington representative was Isaiah L. Kenen. Kenen organized the unincorporated American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs (AZCPA) in 1951. AZCPA was primarily a "public relations" organization, emitting numerous news releases. In 1954, AZC divested itself of AZCPA "because its leaders did not want to use tax-exempt funds for lobbying."Nelson, Nancy Jo (1980) The Zionist Organizational Structure, Journal of Palestine Studies, 10:1, 80–93, . p.84. Following its independence, AZCPA began involving American Jewish organizations not formally committed to Zionism in order to increase its credibility and separate itself from AZC's role as a middleman for the Israeli government. These efforts met with success, with AZCPA able to organize multiple meetings between Jewish leaders and the Eisenhower administration during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

, although they did not substantially change Eisenhower's approach to the crisis. AZCPA was renamed to the

American Israel Public Affairs Committee The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. It is one of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the ...

(AIPAC) in 1959, reflecting its position that a commitment to defending Israel now extended beyond American Zionist organizations to all Jewish organizations. Following investigations into AIPAC in the early 1960s by senator J. W. Fullbright, the American Zionist Council registered itself as a foreign agent with congress. By then, AIPAC had already legally separated itself from AZC. AZC sent monthly newsletters entitled ''Near East Report'' and ''Israel Digest'' to every member of Congress. These newsletters were found to be funded in an indirect, circuitous manner by the Israeli government. In 1966, AZC was dissolved after regulatory changes revoked tax exemption for foreign agents.

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