Council for the National Interest

The Council for the National Interest is an organization that advocates an evenhanded United States policy in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians . Founded in 1989 by former Congressmen Paul Findley (R-IL) and Pete McCloskey (R-CA), the Council takes the following as its mission: CNI seeks to encourage and promote a U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East that is consistent with American values, protects our national interests, and contributes to a just solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict , as well as to restore a political environment in America in which voters and their elected officials are free from the undue influence and pressure of a foreign country, namely Israel.

Council for the National Interest at June 2007 rally. The Council for the National Interest ("CNI") is a 501(c) organization in the United States advocating a "new direction for U.S. Middle East policy." With its sister organization the Council for the National Interest Foundation ("CNIF") it works to educate about and promote even handed policies by the U.S. government. Founded in 1989 by former Congressmen Paul Findley (R-IL) and Pete McCloskey (R-CA), the Council describes itself as "the only organization of its kind striving against tremendous odds to reverse the U.S. government's one-sided, one-way Middle East policies." CNI has been especially critical of the state of Israel and its lobbies , like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee ("AIPAC"). The Economist wrote in 2007 that CNI "even bills itself as the anti-AIPAC." It is especially critical of what it alleges is Israel's misuse of U.S. taxpayer's money to fund activities in violation of international law, , monitoring the use of U.S. taxpayer funds by Israel in the West Bank and in Gaza . Harriet Mayor Fulbright is CNI's chair and former United States Ambassador David Newton is its vice chair. Bird is a 23-year veteran with the United States Foreign Service, including as councilor of the U.S. embassy in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia and embassy warden of the U.S. embassy in Cairo , Egypt . Taming Leviathan , originally printed in The Economist , March 15, 2007.

It is aligned with The Council for the National Interest Foundation ("CNIF"), an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. CNI was founded in 1989 by former Congressmen Paul Findley (R-Ill.) and Pete McCloskey (R-Calif.). Its first executive director was ten-term congressman John B. Anderson (R-Ill.), who ran as an Independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election . Other officials involved with CNI over the years include long-time president Eugene Bird, a retired career foreign service officer; Edward Peck , former Chief of Mission to Iraq deputy director of the White House Task Force on Terrorism in the Reagan Administration.; former United States Senator James Abourezk ; former CNI Vice-chair David Newton , a former United States Ambassador to Iraq and Yemen , and Richard H. Curtiss, former chief inspector of the United States Information Agency . Keeley is CNI's chair and Alison Weir is the organization's president. Former Central Intelligence Agency officer Philip Giraldi is its executive director. Giraldi has stated that CNI has 12,000 members. "About Us" , Council for the National Interest. "Hamas' Haniyya makes overtures to US Administration" , Kuwait News Agency , May 22, 2010, via Highbeam .

The Council for the National Interest ("CNI") is a 501(c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan anti-war advocacy group focused on transparency and accountability about the relationship of Israel and the United States and the impact their alliance has for other nations and individuals in other Middle East countries . Based in the United States and most active during the 2000s decade, the Council has highlighted Israel's disposition towards its neighbors, and how Middle Eastern nations, Palestinian rights and other aspects of Middle East life & relations are impacted by the Israel's policies and its financial, trade , and military relationships with the US. They have focused on popular sentiment and perceptions in the US and the between the two countries. They highlight how these policies have impacted the fate of Palestine and, treatment of Muslims within the US since the 1990s .

American anti-war advocacy group The Council for the National Interest ( CNI ) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan anti-war advocacy group focused on transparency and accountability about the relationship of Israel and the United States and the impact their alliance has for other nations and individuals in other Middle East countries . Based in the United States and most active during the 2000s decade, the Council has highlighted Israel's disposition towards its neighbors, and how Middle Eastern nations, Palestinian rights and other aspects of Middle East life & relations are impacted by the Israel's policies and its financial, trade , and military relationships with the US. They have focused on popular sentiment and perceptions in the US and the between the two countries. They highlight how these policies have impacted the fate of Palestine and, treatment of Muslims within the US since the 1990s.