James E. Akins - Criticism of The Pro-Israeli Lobby

Criticism of The Pro-Israeli Lobby

In an 1979 interview in Time, Akins warned of a "growing wave of anti-Americanism" in Saudi Arabia, which proved prescient when it turned out to be the home of 15 of 19 hijackers in the September 11 Attacks. In 1989 Akins and others asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to force the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to register as a political action committee and reveal private information about its operations. Akins was then lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the FEC, resulting in the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision Federal Election Commission v. Akins. In 1994 Akins made a speech in which he said: "Our foreign policy was so pro-Israel that we alienated the Arabs, yet our energy policy, such as it was, made us dependent on Arab oil."