Vice President Mike Pence and a bipartisan slate of top members of Congress are scheduled to address AIPAC’s upcoming annual conference.
An American Israel Public Affairs Committee official confirmed to JTA that Pence will keynote the conference scheduled for March 26-28 in Washington, D.C.
Pence, who enjoyed a long relationship with the pro-Israel lobby as a congressman and later as Indiana governor, spoke last month at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual confab and has taken a lead in condemning recent anti-Semitic incidents.
Also scheduled to speak will be top lawmakers from both parties.
US House of Representatives Rep. Steny Hoyer and Rep. Kevin McCarthy likely will continue a tradition of top Republican and Democratic lawmakers appearing to claim that while they may differ on some issues, they are agreed on support for Israel. However, while the Democrats have continuously supported a two-state solution, Republicans are now unwilling to push Israel into negotiations which may present serious security risks.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have not yet announced whether they will attend the AIPAC conference or not. Last year, Trump spoke as a Republican candidate and Netanyahu spoke via video from Jerusalem.
Pence announced on February 23 that he would attend the conference, and a few days later said he would "never compromise Israel's security."