AIPAC cancels 2021 annual conference due to coronavirus fears

This is the first time in AIPAC’s history that its event will be canceled.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has announced it will not be holding its upcoming annual national policy conference, despite being almost a year away, due to “uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Given the continued uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and without a predictable avenue to safely bring together thousands of pro-Israel Americans, we have been forced to cancel the 2021 AIPAC Policy Conference,” AIPAC President Betsy Berns Korn wrote in a letter published on Twitter.

The annual conference, which brings together thousands of prominent pro-Israel leaders, had been scheduled to take place over a two-day period, beginning on March 7, 2021, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

This is the first time in AIPAC’s history that its event will be canceled.

“While we will sorely miss seeing our AIPAC family in Washington and connecting in person as a pro-Israel community, what truly binds us together is our shared commitment to ensuring the safety and security of America and Israel,” Korn wrote.

“The impact of COVID-19 will make this a different and challenging year. But we are confident that the AIPAC community will continue to overcome any obstacle and rise to the occasion,” she added.

The statement did not say whether the event will be modified and presented virtually instead.

Hundreds of global events scheduled for this year have been either postponed or canceled due to coronavirus fears, but AIPAC’s move joins only a select few smaller organizations that have canceled its events so far in advance.