WASHINGTON (JTA) — The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has made a push in recent years to repair relations with liberals and Democrats. Toward that end, the pro-Israel lobby is seeking a progressive outreach director in the New York area.

The director’s task would be to “build relationships with key progressive political, religious, and community leaders in the Northeast Region, educating them about the U.S.-Israel relationship,” according to the job announcement posted late last week on the LinkedIn job search website.

“We have had a progressive engagement program for the past few years,” an AIPAC official told JTA.

In 2014, AIPAC named a national director of outreach to progressives, and it employs a regional progressive outreach director in New England.

The pro-settlement policies of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister since 2009, have helped sow disenchantment with Israel and AIPAC among progressives. So did the clashes between Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama, and more recently, Netanyahu’s robust praise for President Donald Trump.

AIPAC in recent months has been more outspoken in endorsing the two-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while Netanyahu and Trump have both retreated to agnosticism on whether a Palestinian state is a preferred outcome of a peace deal.

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