Steve J. Rosen

Steve J. Rosen

Steven J. Rosen served for 23 years as one of the top officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He is regarded as an influential and controversial figure in the "pro-Israel movement", often singled out in writings critical of AIPAC. He was indicted in August 2005 for alleged violations of the Espionage Act in the conduct of AIPAC’s work, but the charges were dropped. The case received wide attention because it raises new issues about the conflict between Bush Administration national security policy and civil liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment. Floyd Abrams, a leading First Amendment attorney, said the AIPAC case "is the single most dangerous case for free speech and free press" (Washington Post, March 31, 2006) and Alan Dershowitz called it “the worst case of selective prosecution I have seen in 42 years of legal practice” (Jerusalem Post, January 31, 2006).

On November 3, 2008, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Rosen is now working for the Middle East Forum (MEF), a think tank directed by scholar Daniel Pipes. Rosen is blogging on the MEF website, devoted to Obama Administration personnel and policy: http://www.meforum.org/blog/obama-mideast-monitor/archive.php In November 2008, Rosen published "Did Iran Offer a 'Grand Bargain' in 2003?," and gave a presentation for MEF titled "Wishful Thinking and Iran."