Compromise on New Aipac Director Falls Apart at the Last Minute

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, racked by a series of high-profile personnel problems over the past two years, was unable to agree on a new executive director before its executive committee met this week.

The executive committee had been expected Tuesday to approve a successor for Tom Dine, the highly regarded 13-year veteran who resigned last June after the publication of remarks he made denigrating fervently Orthodox Jews.

On Monday, a search committee and the officers of the lobby had recommended that the job be shared by the two final candidates for the post, Howard Kohr, AIPAC’s acting executive director, and Neal Sher, currently director of the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations, or Nazi-hunting unit.

But by Tuesday morning, Kohr had rejected the joint directorship approach.

This sends the issue back to debate and leaves AIPAC still trying to move beyond its troubles. The ongoing debate takes place against a backdrop of an advancing Middle East peace process that is dramatically shifting the landscape of pro-Israel activism.

The scandals that have rocked the organization include the resignation of David Steiner as president of the organization after he had been taped boasting of AIPAC’s influence on the Clinton transition team; the resignation last July of Harvey Friedman, a vice president of AIPAC, after he had been quoted as calling Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin a “slime ball”; and the resignation of Dine for having been quoted as saying Orthodox Jews were perceived as “smelly.”

“AIPAC is focused on the abundance of tasks ahead of us,” said the organization’s spokesperson.

“We had 150 meetings with members of Congress today alone, and frankly there is a sense that this delay will not derail us,” said the spokesperson.

‘DELAY WILL NOT DERAIL US’

On the surface, the idea of Kohr and Sher sharing responsibilities made a certain amount of sense.

Kohr is in effect the incumbent, having been running AIPAC since Dine’s departure and before that, as managing director, being responsible for most of the day-to-day management while Dine concentrated on public appearances and fund-raising.

Sher, who is said to have no direct experience in lobbying Capitol Hill, is seen as more charismatic than Kohr.

“People were looking to make use of both of their skills,” said an AIPAC spokesperson. “This was somewhat of an unusual model, though not unprecedented in certain business organizations,” said the spokesperson.

Others saw the arrangement as a poor attempt at compromise between supporters of the two men.

“It’s a Rube Goldberg contraption,” said an official with another Jewish organization. “I don’t know of any examples working in the past of this kind of bifurcated responsibilities,” said the official.

Kohr is backed by the former chairmen of AIPAC, a group that includes Republican activists and who wish to maintain control over the lobbying group, according to some people familiar with the situation. Kohr previously headed the National Jewish Coalition, a Republican group.

Sher is not seen as having partisan political leanings. The issue, however, may be less that of Republicans against Democrats than of change.

At issue, said a member of the search committee who supported Sher when the OSI director emerged as one of the two finalists, was “vision, and coping with changes in the world, in the Middle East and in the American mood.

“Times have changed, and you need someone at the helm who can dream, who can create a vision, who can provide leadership, who can attract a following,” said the search committee member.

Sher seemed poised to win the committee’s nod on Monday, according to the committee member and others familiar with the situation.

Before the meeting, however, the idea of sharing the post was worked out by the officers, with an eye toward continuing Kohr’s position in the organization.

“There was an accommodation for the past chairmen who were anxious to keep Howard in there, and Steve reluctantly went along with it,” according to the member of the search committee, referring to AIPAC President Steven Grossman.

Grossman and other AIPAC officials, including Kohr, were not available for comment.

The officers are scheduled to emerge with one recommended candidate in a week. The broader executive committee, which includes a couple of hundred members, will vote by mail or fax on the candidate, probably by the end of the month.