Isaiah L. Kenen

Kennen retired in 1974 shortly prior to the passage of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Morris Amitay, one of the sculptors of the amendment, succeeded him. Amitay would go on to transition AIPAC into a more aggressive organization, suited for the post-Watergate world.

Until 1951, Isaiah Kenen was a registered foreign agent for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs' "Israel Office of Information" according to Department of Justice documents.

Kenen started AIPAC in 1944, running it mostly alone for its first three decades. At the time this was sufficient, as Israel was approached as a humanitarian cause in Washington at the time, not yet the high-stakes game they would later become during the Cold War. In keeping with the more relaxed environment on Israel, journalist J.J. Goldberg in 1996 describes Kenen's style of lobbying as "friendly, collegial". Kenen determined his goals through discussion with the leaders of American Zionist and pro-Israel organizations. When he required extra fire-power on Capitol Hill, he could open his rolodex of hundreds of Jewish community leaders who could reach out to their representatives.

Kenen started working as a journalist at the Toronto Star and moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1926. He studied law and was admitted to the Ohio Bar Association in 1933. He became active in the Zionist movement and in 1941 became president of the Cleveland Zionist District. In the 1940s, he served as the information director of the Jewish Agency and following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, he served on the Israeli delegation to the United Nations. Regarding this period, he wrote in his book Israel's Defense Line:

Isaiah Leo "Si" Kenen (March 7, 1905 – March 23, 1988) was a Canadian-born American journalist, lawyer and philanthropist. He was the founder of the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs (AZCPA), the forerunner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Kenen was born on March 7, 1905, in St. Stephens's, New Brunswick, Canada, the son of Rebecca (née Freedberg) and Emmanuel Kenen. His father, born in Kiev in Russian Empire, was an insurance agent. His family was active in the Zionist movement and his father established the first Bnei Zion club in Toronto and attended the first meetings of the World Zionist Congress. Kenen studied at the University of Toronto and majored in philosophy.