vice chairman of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA),[citation needed] and the founder and treasurer of the Washington Political Action Committee.
[2] Amitay was a Foreign Service Officer from 1962 to 1969, with assignments in Italy, South Africa and the State Department.
[citation needed] In 1981, he founded the Washington Political Action Committee, which through 2018 had contributed almost four million dollars to Israel's supporters in the U.S.
[citation needed] Before taking over AIPAC, Amitay worked in the U.S. House of Representatives and for five years as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate, where he "took a lead role in organizing congressional initiatives affecting Israel and Soviet Jewry".
[citation needed] On July 25, 1977, Amitay's home was the target of a bomb that killed the family dog but caused no other injuries.