Netanyahu Invited To Speak to His DC Friends at a Joint Session of Congress

James M. Wall – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking on April 12 at a dinner to open the US-Islamic World Forum, hosted by the Brookings Institution and the State of Qatar, had warm words of greeting to her many friends there:

It is such a pleasure for me to join you at this first U.S.-Islamic World Forum held in America. His Highness the Amir and the people of Qatar have generously hosted the Forum for years. . . . I was honored to be a guest in Doha last year. And now I am delighted to welcome you to Washington. I want to thank Martin Indyk, Ken Pollack and the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution for keeping this event going and growing.

Indyk and Pollack have helped to shape US foreign policy in the Middle East for decades. They are currently housed at the Saban Center, thanks to the generosity of Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media-mogul and one of the biggest contributors to the campaigns of pro-Israel politicians in the U.S.

Saban has been described by a New York Times reporter as a “tireless cheerleader for Israel.” He has also founded various centers and institutions to produce policy research favorable to Israel. In 2002 he pledged $13 million to found the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, which is now directed by Indyk, who had earlier founded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an AIPAC spinoff. Read more