What do you think?
Rate this book
أمريكا المختطفة - اللوبي الإسرائيلي وسياسة الولايات المتحدة الخارجية
The Israel Lobby,” by John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, was one of the most controversial articles in recent memory. Originally published in the London Review of Books in March 2006, it provoked both howls of outrage and cheers of gratitude for challenging what had been a taboo issue in the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy. Now in a work of major importance, Mearsheimer and Walt deepen and expand their argument and confront recent developments in Lebanon and Iran. They describe the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. Mearsheimer and Walt provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America’s posture throughout the Middle East—in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America’s national interest nor Israel’s long-term interest. The lobby’s influence also affects America’s relationship with important allies and increases dangers that all states face from global jihadist terror. Writing in The New York Review of Books, Michael Massing declared, “Not since Foreign Affairs magazine published Samuel Huntington’s ‘The Clash of Civilizations?’ in 1993 has an academic essay detonated with such force.” The publication of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is certain to widen the debate and to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.
156 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2006
1211 people are currently reading
14279 people want to read
About the author
John J. Mearsheimer
25 books1,083 followersJohn Joseph Mearsheimer (1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He has been described as the most influential realist of his generation.
Mearsheimer is best known for developing the theory of offensive realism, which describes the interaction between great powers as being primarily driven by the rational desire to achieve regional hegemony in an anarchic international system. In accordance with his theory, Mearsheimer believes that China's growing power will likely bring it into conflict with the United States.
Mearsheimer's works are widely read and debated by 21st-century students of international relations. A 2017 survey of US international relations faculty ranks him third among "scholars whose work has had the greatest influence on the field of IR in the past 20 years.
Mearsheimer is best known for developing the theory of offensive realism, which describes the interaction between great powers as being primarily driven by the rational desire to achieve regional hegemony in an anarchic international system. In accordance with his theory, Mearsheimer believes that China's growing power will likely bring it into conflict with the United States.
Mearsheimer's works are widely read and debated by 21st-century students of international relations. A 2017 survey of US international relations faculty ranks him third among "scholars whose work has had the greatest influence on the field of IR in the past 20 years.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 513 reviews
January 15, 2009
Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the Matrix. There is the reality that everyone seems to accept as being real and then there is the really real. What is going on in the Middle East at the moment messes with my mind in exactly that way.
I wrote to a GoodReads friend a week or so ago – can’t quite remember how we got onto the topic, but I was telling her how distressing I was finding what was going on in Gaza. I started off by making sure I stressed I had grown up with Jewish friends and blah, blah, blah. It was only after I had sent the email that I realised I was doing the ‘some of my best friends are Jewish’ routine. Look, up until yesterday there had been 1000 people killed in Gaza, 16 of them Israeli soldiers. Most of the soldiers have been killed by ‘friendly fire’. If mentioning such facts makes me anti-Semitic, then, I’m going to have to learn to live with that. What is happening in Gaza is a crime against humanity. What has been going on there for years shames us all. It must be stopped. We can no longer sit back and watch and say nothing – not if we want to live with our humanity intact.
This book shouldn’t really contain any information that you don’t already know. It will, probably, but if you have read any Noam Chomsky or Naomi Kline or John Pilger you would have heard all this before and more. What is interesting about this book is the effort the authors go to so as to show they are not anti-Jewish. The Jews I grew up with were infinitely less touchy about Israel than they must be in the US. Although that is another of the interesting things that is pointed out in this book. It is not the Jews in the US who are so precious about Israel but all of the frightening Christian groups who want the Jews to go back to Israel so that Jesus will return on a cloud to either convert them Jews to Christianity or kill them. That these people have so much sway over the current President of the US is truly frightening.
There are lots of things in this book that are truly frightening – but the most is probably being reminded that Israel has possibly upwards of 200 nuclear weapons. This is a state that is based on apartheid. This is a state that prides itself on massive over-reaction. This is a state that wants to be known as a mad dog. And yet the US allows it to have nuclear weapons! Hard to imagine.
The book seeks to answer a fairly fundamental question – and, to be honest, I’m not sure it is very successful. The question is: why is it that Israel, a first world country, a country with a massive military (a military that dwarfs those of all potential enemies), a country that so frequently acts against US interests (as the authors of this book are at pains to stress continually). Why is it that they still receive more US aid than any other country on earth and can act with virtual impunity – even when acting against the stated will of the US? They come up with a reason in this book, and that is that the Israel lobby in the US is what allows this to happen.
The US government would like a two state solution, the US government would like to be closer to Iran, the US government would like to sort out the problems in Syria and Lebanon and Iraq and God knows where else – but it is the Israel lobby, they make us support Israel right or wrong (even if it seems, according to this book, mostly wrong) and we can’t be held responsible...
Well, do you know what? – Ethics 101. If you give them weapons, if you pump their economy full of US dollars, if you turn a blind eye when they drop the cluster bombs you sell them in civilian areas (according to Amnesty International) or use white prosperous weapons that ‘burn to the bone’ (according to the United Nations - I have been tormented by that phrase, burn to the bone, for three days now - disgusting) then the US IS RESPONSIBLE. When the US government barely raises a finger as Israel constructs its despicable wall in an attempt to steal more Palestinian land as a fait accompli, when the least word from the US would stop this atrocity, then the US must bare responsibility for the consequences. We are as responsible for the consequences of our inaction as we are for our actions.
So, I really don’t know that blaming the Israel Lobby really gets the US off the hook on this one. I have been waiting and waiting for Obama to say something, anything at all. But perhaps it is best he remains silent. I would hate to hear him say something supporting Israel’s right to defend itself (which in this circumstance seems to mean their right to kill women and children). Better he says nothing than that he say that.
The excuse for these atrocities, the excuse that Hamas does not recognise Israel’s right to exist, is almost laughable. It would be like me saying I don’t recognise Mike Tyson’s right to exist. I’m sure he would be very worried. Using this as an excuse to punish the Palestinians to the extent that we are witnessing is literally appalling, it literally makes the blood drain away from my face.
And then to see Joe the Plumber at a rocket crash site in Israel saying that journalists should be ‘abolished’ from war zones because they don’t know enough about the situation there – and that he can say this without even the slightest hint of irony into the gaping cameras of the world media. Jesus H Christ. Can America be so lacking in shame? He is representing your media and being watched across the world. Aren't you in the least bit embarrassed? Have you written to your media and said NOT IN MY NAME?
I have little hope that anything will change anytime soon – but in the words of Chomsky, if you want to end terrorism you have to stop engaging in it. When will enough be enough? Can anyone really believe this is making Israel safer?
I wrote to a GoodReads friend a week or so ago – can’t quite remember how we got onto the topic, but I was telling her how distressing I was finding what was going on in Gaza. I started off by making sure I stressed I had grown up with Jewish friends and blah, blah, blah. It was only after I had sent the email that I realised I was doing the ‘some of my best friends are Jewish’ routine. Look, up until yesterday there had been 1000 people killed in Gaza, 16 of them Israeli soldiers. Most of the soldiers have been killed by ‘friendly fire’. If mentioning such facts makes me anti-Semitic, then, I’m going to have to learn to live with that. What is happening in Gaza is a crime against humanity. What has been going on there for years shames us all. It must be stopped. We can no longer sit back and watch and say nothing – not if we want to live with our humanity intact.
This book shouldn’t really contain any information that you don’t already know. It will, probably, but if you have read any Noam Chomsky or Naomi Kline or John Pilger you would have heard all this before and more. What is interesting about this book is the effort the authors go to so as to show they are not anti-Jewish. The Jews I grew up with were infinitely less touchy about Israel than they must be in the US. Although that is another of the interesting things that is pointed out in this book. It is not the Jews in the US who are so precious about Israel but all of the frightening Christian groups who want the Jews to go back to Israel so that Jesus will return on a cloud to either convert them Jews to Christianity or kill them. That these people have so much sway over the current President of the US is truly frightening.
There are lots of things in this book that are truly frightening – but the most is probably being reminded that Israel has possibly upwards of 200 nuclear weapons. This is a state that is based on apartheid. This is a state that prides itself on massive over-reaction. This is a state that wants to be known as a mad dog. And yet the US allows it to have nuclear weapons! Hard to imagine.
The book seeks to answer a fairly fundamental question – and, to be honest, I’m not sure it is very successful. The question is: why is it that Israel, a first world country, a country with a massive military (a military that dwarfs those of all potential enemies), a country that so frequently acts against US interests (as the authors of this book are at pains to stress continually). Why is it that they still receive more US aid than any other country on earth and can act with virtual impunity – even when acting against the stated will of the US? They come up with a reason in this book, and that is that the Israel lobby in the US is what allows this to happen.
The US government would like a two state solution, the US government would like to be closer to Iran, the US government would like to sort out the problems in Syria and Lebanon and Iraq and God knows where else – but it is the Israel lobby, they make us support Israel right or wrong (even if it seems, according to this book, mostly wrong) and we can’t be held responsible...
Well, do you know what? – Ethics 101. If you give them weapons, if you pump their economy full of US dollars, if you turn a blind eye when they drop the cluster bombs you sell them in civilian areas (according to Amnesty International) or use white prosperous weapons that ‘burn to the bone’ (according to the United Nations - I have been tormented by that phrase, burn to the bone, for three days now - disgusting) then the US IS RESPONSIBLE. When the US government barely raises a finger as Israel constructs its despicable wall in an attempt to steal more Palestinian land as a fait accompli, when the least word from the US would stop this atrocity, then the US must bare responsibility for the consequences. We are as responsible for the consequences of our inaction as we are for our actions.
So, I really don’t know that blaming the Israel Lobby really gets the US off the hook on this one. I have been waiting and waiting for Obama to say something, anything at all. But perhaps it is best he remains silent. I would hate to hear him say something supporting Israel’s right to defend itself (which in this circumstance seems to mean their right to kill women and children). Better he says nothing than that he say that.
The excuse for these atrocities, the excuse that Hamas does not recognise Israel’s right to exist, is almost laughable. It would be like me saying I don’t recognise Mike Tyson’s right to exist. I’m sure he would be very worried. Using this as an excuse to punish the Palestinians to the extent that we are witnessing is literally appalling, it literally makes the blood drain away from my face.
And then to see Joe the Plumber at a rocket crash site in Israel saying that journalists should be ‘abolished’ from war zones because they don’t know enough about the situation there – and that he can say this without even the slightest hint of irony into the gaping cameras of the world media. Jesus H Christ. Can America be so lacking in shame? He is representing your media and being watched across the world. Aren't you in the least bit embarrassed? Have you written to your media and said NOT IN MY NAME?
I have little hope that anything will change anytime soon – but in the words of Chomsky, if you want to end terrorism you have to stop engaging in it. When will enough be enough? Can anyone really believe this is making Israel safer?
March 1, 2022
When I encounter something I don't understand, I educate myself.
I didn't understand the automatic support for Israel by the United States. What the United States stands for - liberty and justice for all - could not be further from the agenda of Israel. In that country an exclusive group of people are out to evict, dispossess, imprison, and in general oppress the people who lived there, or are the sons and daughters of those who lived there, before the arrival of Europeans known as Zionists. For newcomers to promote the good of all and to desire to add to the happiness of those they find in residence is laudable. For newcomers to have a plan from the start to evict whoever they find is odious, reprehensible and the very last thing the United States should support. Yes, we did this with Native-Americans in our own history. Let's not support the shameful act a second time.
I feel the above so strongly that I started a blog I call "Daylight between America and Israel" named for the phrase I hear so commonly used to claim identify of the two countries.
The Israel Lobby is a primer for anyone (certainly all Americans!) like me interested in discovering how the United States became so enslaved to government policies of a tiny foreign country on the other side of the world. How can our Congress act so contrary to our national interest and speak proudly and with a smile of their abdication of their responsibility to the citizens of our country?
As the outstanding scholars that they are, Mearsheimer and Walt walk the reader through the subject matter comprehensively. What are the interests of the United States and Israel? How do they differ? What is the Israel lobby? Why is it so powerful? Who are the leaders and what is their motivation for such single-minded activity for a country in which they do not live?
Taking the claims of the lobby - the moral and political issues that are said to justify unqualified United States support of Israel - the authors carefully analyze their basis and show with simple logic how they do not stand up to reality. Is Israel really a bulwark for the U.S. or a liability that stands between us and so many countries around the world?
Once the reader learns how the lobby operates, the authors review the history of the Israel lobby in action, from the start when Chaim Weizmann used the Jewish vote, guilt and sympathy to win over Harry Truman to the real expansion of lobby power after the 1967 war.
The powerful conclusion is that it is not just the interests and national security of the U.S. that is endangered by the actions of the lobby, it is also the interests of Israel that are undermined.
No stone is left unturned. The case is so well made that I plan to dissect the book, extracting the basic points to discuss them on my blog.
I wish all Americans would read this book for the sake of the protection of the United States. Too many Americans refuse to admit that most of the opposition and even hatred we face in the world are a direct result of our own hypocritical political actions with regard to Israel that have made the world a more dangerous place. When G.W. Bush said "bring it on!" he was oblivious to the fact that he and earlier presidents had been acting in a way to invite the horror of 9/11.
Mearsheimer and Walt are two Americans who see clearly that what happens with regard to U.S. actions toward Israel have nothing to do with the welfare of Jews either in America, Israel or the rest of the world, but are instead the specific agenda of a relatively tiny group of ideologues, mostly but not exclusively Jewish, the neo-conservatives first among them, that have no hesitation about leveraging United States military power for their own cause. The disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan by way of the neo-con steering of the George W. Bush administration should alarm all Americans into taking back control of Congress from the Israel lobby.
This book is a wake-up call. It cracked open the unspoken prohibition on criticizing Israel in the United States. Is it imperative to read this book? Yes. Get a copy today, then act on what you learn from it to counter the nonsense spoken by most of our Congresspeople regarding Israel.
I didn't understand the automatic support for Israel by the United States. What the United States stands for - liberty and justice for all - could not be further from the agenda of Israel. In that country an exclusive group of people are out to evict, dispossess, imprison, and in general oppress the people who lived there, or are the sons and daughters of those who lived there, before the arrival of Europeans known as Zionists. For newcomers to promote the good of all and to desire to add to the happiness of those they find in residence is laudable. For newcomers to have a plan from the start to evict whoever they find is odious, reprehensible and the very last thing the United States should support. Yes, we did this with Native-Americans in our own history. Let's not support the shameful act a second time.
I feel the above so strongly that I started a blog I call "Daylight between America and Israel" named for the phrase I hear so commonly used to claim identify of the two countries.
The Israel Lobby is a primer for anyone (certainly all Americans!) like me interested in discovering how the United States became so enslaved to government policies of a tiny foreign country on the other side of the world. How can our Congress act so contrary to our national interest and speak proudly and with a smile of their abdication of their responsibility to the citizens of our country?
As the outstanding scholars that they are, Mearsheimer and Walt walk the reader through the subject matter comprehensively. What are the interests of the United States and Israel? How do they differ? What is the Israel lobby? Why is it so powerful? Who are the leaders and what is their motivation for such single-minded activity for a country in which they do not live?
Taking the claims of the lobby - the moral and political issues that are said to justify unqualified United States support of Israel - the authors carefully analyze their basis and show with simple logic how they do not stand up to reality. Is Israel really a bulwark for the U.S. or a liability that stands between us and so many countries around the world?
Once the reader learns how the lobby operates, the authors review the history of the Israel lobby in action, from the start when Chaim Weizmann used the Jewish vote, guilt and sympathy to win over Harry Truman to the real expansion of lobby power after the 1967 war.
The powerful conclusion is that it is not just the interests and national security of the U.S. that is endangered by the actions of the lobby, it is also the interests of Israel that are undermined.
No stone is left unturned. The case is so well made that I plan to dissect the book, extracting the basic points to discuss them on my blog.
I wish all Americans would read this book for the sake of the protection of the United States. Too many Americans refuse to admit that most of the opposition and even hatred we face in the world are a direct result of our own hypocritical political actions with regard to Israel that have made the world a more dangerous place. When G.W. Bush said "bring it on!" he was oblivious to the fact that he and earlier presidents had been acting in a way to invite the horror of 9/11.
Mearsheimer and Walt are two Americans who see clearly that what happens with regard to U.S. actions toward Israel have nothing to do with the welfare of Jews either in America, Israel or the rest of the world, but are instead the specific agenda of a relatively tiny group of ideologues, mostly but not exclusively Jewish, the neo-conservatives first among them, that have no hesitation about leveraging United States military power for their own cause. The disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan by way of the neo-con steering of the George W. Bush administration should alarm all Americans into taking back control of Congress from the Israel lobby.
This book is a wake-up call. It cracked open the unspoken prohibition on criticizing Israel in the United States. Is it imperative to read this book? Yes. Get a copy today, then act on what you learn from it to counter the nonsense spoken by most of our Congresspeople regarding Israel.
August 17, 2025
Published in 2007, John Mearsheimer and Stephan Walt argue that America's Middle East foreign policy is significantly influenced by an Israel lobby within America. The Israel lobby is comprised of various syndicates like AIPAC that fund American politicians' campaigns to ensure support for hawkish pro-Israeli policies. After outlining their thesis, the authors dismantle arguments supporting America's seemingly unconditional support for Israel, asserting its strategic detriment to both nations vis-à-vis other key regional actors like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iran. They conclude by offering suggestions to mitigate this dilemma.
Mearsheimer and Walt vigorously declare that the Israel lobby is legal and not a Jewish cabal. It is simply comprised of influential Jewish-Americans that, according to the authors, erroneously conflate Israel's strategic interests with America's. For theological reasons, Christian Zionists also comprise a significant segment within the lobby. Most Jewish Americans do not support the lobby's policies and are less hawkish than the average American voter. Despite such precautions, however, the authors have been incorrectly called antisemites, and far right extremists have cynically used this book as evidence of an international Jewish conspiracy.
The Iraq War is considered one of America's greatest blunders. Its irrationality is partially explained in this book. Right-wing Israeli's believe that ensuring security for a greater Israel--i.e., occupied territories with Israeli settlements--requires destroying their adversaries. Iraq was perceived as one in 2003. The lobby fervently promoted the war, which, alongside American neoconservative delusions, ensured Iraq's invasion. Israel curiously did not send troops, but Australia did. While supportive of Australia's proximate relations with America, reconsideration is required if it involves strategically unsound support of Israeli interests in the Middle East.
Adherents of realism, the authors critique America's policies towards Israel and the broader Middle East. They propose establishing a Palestinian state, treating Israel like any other state, and side-lining ideological differences for peace with countries like Iran. For the layperson, however, it would have been beneficial if the authors explained key realist principles and their differences with the dominant neoconservative ideology at the time of publishing. Additionally, there is an excess of qualitative evidence in some sections to the point of superfluousness. Nevertheless, this book is essential for a deeper understanding of America's Middle East foreign policies.
Thanks for reading Callum’s Column! Subscribe for free (only your email is required) for new book reviews and political analyses on Australia and the United States: https://callumscolumn.substack.com/
Mearsheimer and Walt vigorously declare that the Israel lobby is legal and not a Jewish cabal. It is simply comprised of influential Jewish-Americans that, according to the authors, erroneously conflate Israel's strategic interests with America's. For theological reasons, Christian Zionists also comprise a significant segment within the lobby. Most Jewish Americans do not support the lobby's policies and are less hawkish than the average American voter. Despite such precautions, however, the authors have been incorrectly called antisemites, and far right extremists have cynically used this book as evidence of an international Jewish conspiracy.
The Iraq War is considered one of America's greatest blunders. Its irrationality is partially explained in this book. Right-wing Israeli's believe that ensuring security for a greater Israel--i.e., occupied territories with Israeli settlements--requires destroying their adversaries. Iraq was perceived as one in 2003. The lobby fervently promoted the war, which, alongside American neoconservative delusions, ensured Iraq's invasion. Israel curiously did not send troops, but Australia did. While supportive of Australia's proximate relations with America, reconsideration is required if it involves strategically unsound support of Israeli interests in the Middle East.
Adherents of realism, the authors critique America's policies towards Israel and the broader Middle East. They propose establishing a Palestinian state, treating Israel like any other state, and side-lining ideological differences for peace with countries like Iran. For the layperson, however, it would have been beneficial if the authors explained key realist principles and their differences with the dominant neoconservative ideology at the time of publishing. Additionally, there is an excess of qualitative evidence in some sections to the point of superfluousness. Nevertheless, this book is essential for a deeper understanding of America's Middle East foreign policies.
Thanks for reading Callum’s Column! Subscribe for free (only your email is required) for new book reviews and political analyses on Australia and the United States: https://callumscolumn.substack.com/
October 16, 2014
We all remember the events of 9/11, but can you remember your thoughts from 9/12? Were you confused, questioning the reason(s) for these attacks? Aren't we the good-guys, fostering human rights, democratic values, and the removal of authoritarian rulers? Clearly, there must be, or must have been, something about our foreign policy in the Middle East to cause such hate and anger toward us. Do you find President Bush's attempted explanation that "... they hate us for our freedom and our democracy" as weak and totally inadequate?
Well, this book isn't intended to answer the question as to why we were attacked on 9/11, but it does attempt to address some of the claims of unequal treatment toward peoples in the Middle East, and how or why some of the U.S. policies anger Muslim nations. It also might give some insight into why Arab leaders often claim that this Country is "controlled by the Jews" or by Jewish interests. We tend to trust our media and policy makers as fair and even handed, because they tell us they are. But if you're looking for a critical review of those statements, this book is a good place to start. I found this to be an eye-opening and enlightening book, and should be interesting to anyone groping for a deeper understanding of how some of our policies in the mid-east are developed and applied and how that affects us all.
Well, this book isn't intended to answer the question as to why we were attacked on 9/11, but it does attempt to address some of the claims of unequal treatment toward peoples in the Middle East, and how or why some of the U.S. policies anger Muslim nations. It also might give some insight into why Arab leaders often claim that this Country is "controlled by the Jews" or by Jewish interests. We tend to trust our media and policy makers as fair and even handed, because they tell us they are. But if you're looking for a critical review of those statements, this book is a good place to start. I found this to be an eye-opening and enlightening book, and should be interesting to anyone groping for a deeper understanding of how some of our policies in the mid-east are developed and applied and how that affects us all.
March 3, 2010
Great book! A lot of Americans still have residual respect for Israel, and this book ought to smash that out of their skulls once and for all.
April 9, 2020
This book should be required reading for every American. Every high school senior should have to read this book. People shouldn’t be able to vote unless they’ve read this book. Most Americans are so uninformed about what shapes American foreign policy in the Middle East. If they knew, they would be angry; and things would change.
August 22, 2024
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt is an incredible book and thought-provoking book. For decades now, the Israel Lobby in the United States, which consists of people and Israeli organizations in the US, has been influencing US policy toward Israel even if policies the lobby advocates can hurt US interests. The lobby consists of Jewish Americans and Jewish Zionists. Even though the book was written years ago, the lobby is still influencing US policy today.
I found this an to be an incredible, thought-provoking book.
I found this an to be an incredible, thought-provoking book.
December 2, 2015
This is overall a very good book, but the authors spend way too much time reiterating the fact that they believe Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. This right after criticizing just about everything about the country since its founding, yet they still can't drop this point. There's also too much use of the term "terrorism" where it doesn't quite belong. Despite these shortcomings, however, the book is invaluable for anyone seeking to understand this country's pathetic "special relationship" with Israel.
October 13, 2011
"The Israel Lobby" asserts what almost 40% (per the authors) of Americans recognize - that Israel is one of the main causes of anti-Americanism, that the U.S. provides Israel with extraordinary material and diplomatic support, and that many policies pursued on Israel's behalf jeopardize U.S. national security.
Documentation is not wanting for these claims. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid since WWII, amounting to some $154 billion (2005 dollars), and about $500/citizen today. Since 1982, the US has vetoed 42 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, more than the total number of vetoes cast by all the other Security Council members - and this does not even count those that did not come to a vote because of a U.S. veto threat. At the same time, the Israel lobby is also credited with pushing the U.S. away from Syria (had been providing al Qaeda intelligence post 9/11 and Iran (had supported U.S. airmen rescue efforts in Afghanistan, and offered an opportunity for a major agreement at the time Iraq fell).
This extraordinary support might be justified if there were some great moral reason or security need involved. Our military has not been able to use Israel as a base in either Gulf War, nor could we ask it to help for risk of triggering a calamity in the region. Further, the U.S. has a terrorism threat in common with Israel because of our support for that nation. Thus, Israel is far from an asset to the U.S. As for moral argument, Israel's past and present conduct involving continual abuse of the Palestinians after stealing their land offers no moral basis for preferring it over the Palestinians.
So how do we explain our extraordinary support for Israel? The answer, claim the authors, is the Israel lobby. AIPAC is the most powerful and best known; however, prominent Christians have also been involved - eg. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Gary Bauer and numerous politicians believe Israel's rebirth is the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and support its expansionist agenda. One leading Israel lobbyist even bragged that he could easily get 70 U.S. Senators' signatures upon a napkin.
Senator Charles Percy's ouster in 1984 (for insensitivity to Israeli issues) has become the most visible example of the Israel lobby's influence. Although they make up only 3% of the population, it is estimated that their donations comprise 60% of Democrat donations, and their voters turn out in high percentages.
Influence is not limited to just elections. The Israel lobby also influences key appointments (eg. George Ball was not appointed Sec. of State because Carter knew he would be opposed), monitors professors' comments, newspaper editorials, etc. Neoconservatives, on the other hand, are pushed by the Israel lobby because of their support for strong U.S. action in the mid-East - most recently for taking action against Iran.
"The Israel Lobby" also provided recommendations. 1)Israel should be treated like a normal state. 2)The U.S. should strongly pursue an end to the Palestine-Israel conflict. 3)Campaign finance reform is essential to a more balanced debate on Israel - eg. public campaign financing. 4)Open debate should be encouraged. (The authors have been precluded from several speaking engagements due to Israel lobby pressure. Also note the adverse reaction to President Carter's book on the Israel-Palestine conflict.)
Kudos to the authors for shining light on this major problem.
Documentation is not wanting for these claims. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid since WWII, amounting to some $154 billion (2005 dollars), and about $500/citizen today. Since 1982, the US has vetoed 42 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, more than the total number of vetoes cast by all the other Security Council members - and this does not even count those that did not come to a vote because of a U.S. veto threat. At the same time, the Israel lobby is also credited with pushing the U.S. away from Syria (had been providing al Qaeda intelligence post 9/11 and Iran (had supported U.S. airmen rescue efforts in Afghanistan, and offered an opportunity for a major agreement at the time Iraq fell).
This extraordinary support might be justified if there were some great moral reason or security need involved. Our military has not been able to use Israel as a base in either Gulf War, nor could we ask it to help for risk of triggering a calamity in the region. Further, the U.S. has a terrorism threat in common with Israel because of our support for that nation. Thus, Israel is far from an asset to the U.S. As for moral argument, Israel's past and present conduct involving continual abuse of the Palestinians after stealing their land offers no moral basis for preferring it over the Palestinians.
So how do we explain our extraordinary support for Israel? The answer, claim the authors, is the Israel lobby. AIPAC is the most powerful and best known; however, prominent Christians have also been involved - eg. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Gary Bauer and numerous politicians believe Israel's rebirth is the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and support its expansionist agenda. One leading Israel lobbyist even bragged that he could easily get 70 U.S. Senators' signatures upon a napkin.
Senator Charles Percy's ouster in 1984 (for insensitivity to Israeli issues) has become the most visible example of the Israel lobby's influence. Although they make up only 3% of the population, it is estimated that their donations comprise 60% of Democrat donations, and their voters turn out in high percentages.
Influence is not limited to just elections. The Israel lobby also influences key appointments (eg. George Ball was not appointed Sec. of State because Carter knew he would be opposed), monitors professors' comments, newspaper editorials, etc. Neoconservatives, on the other hand, are pushed by the Israel lobby because of their support for strong U.S. action in the mid-East - most recently for taking action against Iran.
"The Israel Lobby" also provided recommendations. 1)Israel should be treated like a normal state. 2)The U.S. should strongly pursue an end to the Palestine-Israel conflict. 3)Campaign finance reform is essential to a more balanced debate on Israel - eg. public campaign financing. 4)Open debate should be encouraged. (The authors have been precluded from several speaking engagements due to Israel lobby pressure. Also note the adverse reaction to President Carter's book on the Israel-Palestine conflict.)
Kudos to the authors for shining light on this major problem.
November 25, 2023
The authors say, “Israel does have a serious terrorism problem, but that is mainly the consequence of colonizing the Occupied Territories.” The US vetoes forty-two UN Security Council Resolutions between 1972 and 2006 that were critical of Israel. For fans of negativity, that is more than all vetoes by all other countries combined in that same time period. “Outside the Security Council, the United States routinely backs Israel whenever the UN General Assembly passes one of the many resolutions condemning Israeli behavior or calling for action on behalf of the Palestinians.” The US wakes from its slumber at the UN when anyone disses Israel in any way, or when Arab countries bring up obvious questions about Israel’s hidden nuclear arsenal. The authors argue that “it is time to treat Israel like a normal country and to make U.S. aid conditional on an end to the occupation and on Israel’s willingness to conform its policies to American interests.”
Both authors clearly state they are pro-Israel and in NO way question Israel’s right to exist or the legitimacy of the Jewish state. They also don’t want to see Israel turned into a binational democracy. Yet they still have deep concerns. “No lobby (other than the Israel lobby) has diverted that policy (foreign) as far from what the American national interest would suggest. The Israel lobby has successfully convinced many Americans that American and Israeli interests are essentially identical.” Deviating from waving the blue and white flag, can get Americans called an anti-Semite or self-hating Jew. Jimmy Carter got blasted for calling Israel apartheid EVEN though he “unambiguously defends Israel’s right to live in peace and security.” “Some critics even charged him with being sympathetic to Nazis.” Even so, “A considerable number of Americans -almost 40%- recognize that US support for Israel is one of the main causes of anti-Americanism around the world.” In one poll, 39% “said they believe that the ‘work of the Israeli lobby on Congress and the Bush administration has been a key factor for going to war in Iraq and now confronting Iran.” But when you ask non-Americans, “a 2006 survey of international scholars in the United States, 66 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement ‘the Israeli lobby has too much influence over US foreign policy’.”
Journalist Michael Massig wrote that a congressional staffer sympathetic to Israel told him, “We can count on well over half the House – 250-300 members – to do reflexively whatever AIPAC wants.” A former AIPAC official told a New Yorker journalist, “In twenty-four hours, we could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.” The authors say although there is a “strong moral case” for the existence of Israel, they do not have a “moral case for giving it such generous and largely unconditional support.”
Israel Aid: As of 2005, direct US assistance to Israel totaled almost $154 billion. With numbers like that, its funny that we can’t “afford” free healthcare. Israel became our biggest aid recipient in 1976. Israel gets this money as loans because of a loophole: loans don’t require US supervision, and these ‘loans’ are like no other loans you’ve heard of – they have no interest, and Israel doesn’t even have to pay them back - redefining the word “loan”. Israel doesn’t have to tell us anything about how they spent our money, and more insulting is this: “Israel receives a direct lump-sum transfer” Why should we care? Because a lump-sum transfer carries an exemption that “makes it virtually impossible for the United States to prevent its subsidies from being used for purposes that it opposes, such as building settlements on the West Bank.” We US taxpayers get the joy of subsidizing this and this translates to $500 per year for each Israeli, while our second largest aid recipient Egypt gets annually $20 per Egyptian. As we continue down the color line, the US aid to Haiti annually is $5 per person. In addition, private individuals in the US give Israel a cool $2 billion annually. Why so much? Because of a loophole, private donations to Israel, and only Israel, from the US are tax-deductible. Shimon Peres said that “private contributions from Israel’s wealthy diaspora Jews had helped finance Israel’s clandestine (blatantly illegal) nuclear program in the 1950’s and 1960’s.” Funny how most foreign aid recipients get paid in installments while Israel gets all her money upfront at the beginning of the year. In return, Israel delights the world with being the world’s 8th largest arms supplier. Not bad for a country smaller than New Hampshire. Right winger Daniel Pipes wrote that Israel had become so wealthy that “American willingness to provide aid to Israel is no longer purely based on need.” And Egypt and Jordan get US money because they were willing “to sign peace treaties with Israel.”
The US halted shipping cluster bombs to Israel when they used them on civilians in Lebanon in 1982, but then in a Texas two-Step started resupplying them in 1988 – after all, unexploded bomblets look just like toys to children (google Reuters for bomblet images), what could go wrong? The US halted financing Israel for a few months in 90’s but started up again when Rabin replaced Shamir.
Israel Pretending it Has No Nuclear: In 1968, the CIA’s director told LBJ Israel now has nuclear weaponry. LBJ told him fast that no one but him could know this, and Sy Hersh said it was because if LBJ said he knew, he’d have to legally act on it. In addition to Israel with the secret nuclear thing, Israel has other illegal weaponry – active chemical and biological weaponry – and note our second favorite rogue state (Israel) never ratified both the Chemical and Biological Weapons Convention. Comic relief: The US pressures other countries to join the NPT, while Israel remains invisible. And Israel relentlessly bombs Gaza with US made bombs while Gaza remains invisible. Perhaps the US ought to see an oculist if can’t see something that is directly in its field of vision. Those of us with vision see how the US still gives aid to Israel even though it refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Why is Israel like the Doris Day song, “Teacher’s Pet.”? Why does the US give Israel complete immunity? and zero accountability no matter who or how many it kills? When Israel annexed Golan Heights, it STILL got unrestricted aid. When Israel used illegal US cluster munitions in Lebanon or White Phosphorus (violating US law), it still got unrestricted aid.
By the 70’s US Middle Eastern policy was open support for Israel. Then comes the Israel’s complicity in the slaughter at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps – depending on who you talk to the death toll was 700 to 2,000 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. “Instead of sanctioning Israel for invading a neighboring country (Lebanon), Congress voted to give Israel an additional $250 million in military assistance in December 1982”. That vote was so over the top even Schultz and Reagan tried to stop that aid package. Between 1976 and 2006, six Israeli leaders addressed Congress, that’s easily more than any other country. Instead of paying for free healthcare for the American people, Yitzhak Rabin said American generosity to Israel is “beyond compare in modern history.”
George Marshall and George Kennan did not want Truman to support Israel in ’48 because it was unnecessarily divisive for the Arabs in the region. The authors say Israel is now a strategic liability for the US, especially since the end of the Cold War. Famed historian Bernard Lewis wrote, “Whatever value Israel might have had as a strategic asset during the Cold War, that value obviously ended when the Cold War came to a close.” The $2.2 billion of US support for Israel during the October War caused the Arab oil embargo in response which cost the US $48.5 billion and a 2% reduction in GDP.
“Terrorism”: In 2002, Congress passes the Comedy Resolutions which both declared (the world’s two biggest terrorists) “the United States and Israel are now engaged in a common struggle against terrorism”. Apparently, no one told Congress that terrorism is not an enemy but a tactic, for example, Israel’s intentional bombing of civilians in Gaza today, or the Philippine Bud Dajo Massacre by US soldiers. The US and Israel are routinely increasing the risk of blowback by their own acts of terrorism, and Chalmers Johnson wrote a great book about it (Blowback). Noam says, if you want to stop terrorism, stop participating in it. No Congress member will tell you how the “Zionists used terrorism” – bombing the King David Hotel in ’46 or assassinating UN mediator Folke Bernadotte in ’48, or the US used it in backing the Contras or the UNITA guerrillas. In fact, the US has entertained former terrorists like Shamir, Arafat, and Begin. Note unlike al Qaeda, that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah do not threaten or attack the US. If you want to deflate those three fast, stop the occupation. “The PLO was secular and nationalist – not Islamist.”
Historically, occupied people have used terrorism as a tactic, so it should surprise no one that in Kashmir or Western Sahara, or Gaza one might see armed resistance or terrorism. Yet Zionist PR would have you believe Palestinian resistance has no connection to the Occupation. Bin Laden told us in speeches that he was motivated by the injustices caused the Palestinians – why did we not learn from his demo? He wanted to hit the Capitol on 9/11 because he saw it as the “perceived source of US policy in support of Israel.” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed also “was primarily motivated by the Palestinian issue.” “No other issue resonates with the public in the Arab world, and many parts of the Muslim world, more deeply than Palestine.” The authors say without the Israel lobby, they doubt the US would have attacked Iraq. Chapter 8 is about how Israel was the big reason why the US rushed to attack Iraq after 9/11 (until now I thought the top reasons were US oil lust and Saddam abandoning the dollar).
“A 2004 report by the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board concluded that ‘Muslims do not hate our freedoms, but rather, our policies.” Polled Muslims in a Zogby Poll said the #1 thing the US could do to change its image was “stop supporting Israel”. King Abdullah II of Jordan said in 2007, “the denial of justice and peace in Palestine …is the core issue.” 52 former British diplomats sent Tony Blair a letter saying the Israel/Palestine conflict needed to be resolved now and then 88 former US diplomats sent a letter to Bush saying the same thing. The message was that continuing unbridled support for Israel would “most certainly lead to new waves of terror.” The authors say, “on balance” US support for Israel has become “more of a liability than an asset”.
Lebanon: 1982 is Israel’s First Lebanon War (the IDF only leaves Lebanon 18 years later) and 2006 is the Second when Israel “dumped several million deadly cluster bomblets in the towns and villages of southern Lebanon.” In case, anyone cares, cluster bombs on civilians is a war crime. Unexploded cluster bombs act as land mines, and look like a toy to children– the gift that keeps on giving. In 72 hours alone, “the IDF fired over one million bomblets (from cluster bombs) into Southern Lebanon.” The US was the ONLY country “that enthusiastically supported Israel’s actions in Lebanon.” One rogue state defending another; birds of a feather, do flock together - and note both are birds of prey. In one month, the Israeli Air force launched more than 7,000 air attacks on Lebanon while its Navy did 2,500 more. All this turned a whopping one quarter of all Lebanese into refugees. Hezbollah’s popularity surged in response to these Israel attacks on Lebanon in 2006 as the Lebanese and the world were blaming Israel - the very opposite of what Israel intended. Oops… Israel’s war pushed Hezbollah, Iran and Syria closer together. Counter-productive much? Amnesty International reported that Israel targeted Lebanese supermarkets, food stores, auto service and gas stations with “precision-guided munitions and artillery that started fires and destroyed their contents.” That’s how you get people to leave – Intentionally give others their OWN Exodus. Of course, targeting civilian areas is a war crime, but rogue states don’t face consequences. “Israel deliberately attacked a wide array of civilian targets in Lebanon, just as (Israeli) General Halutz said that they would.”
“With the possible exception of Iran, it is hard to make the case today that Israel’s neighbors are bent on destroying it.” After the 1967 War, Egypt & Syria were trying to regain territories lost to Israel, and “neither aimed to destroy Israel.” The authors find that US extreme generosity to Israel is not because Israel is “exceptionally virtuous.” “If backing the underdog were a compelling rationale, the United States would be supporting Israel’s opponents.” Even if you buy that Israel is somehow a “democracy”, there are plenty of other democracies on this planet – and none get Israel’s treatment. Don’t forget the US has overthrown its share of democratic governments too. “Paradoxically, it is much easier to criticize Israeli policy (in Israel) than in the United States.” In fact, “There is much more criticism of Israel’s actions in Israel itself than there is in America.”
Jim Crow Redux against Arabs: “Israel’s 1.6 million Arabs are treated as second-class citizens.” A March 2007 poll showed “55 percent of Israeli Jews wanted segregated entertainment facilities and more than 75 percent said they would not live in the same building as an Arab.” “More than half the respondents said for a Jewish woman to marry an Arab is equal to national treason.” Wow! Who thinks backing Israel hurts the image of the US worldwide? 78% of members of the news media, 72% of both military leaders and security experts, and 69% of foreign policy specialists, that’s who. Funny how mainstream media will never tell you this.
Zionism is fueled by this image of Jewish people having been victims suffering the world’s “absolute hatred for an entire ethnic group”, yet ask the average Israeli high-schooler and they will happily tell you all about their “absolute hatred for an entire ethnic group” and it’s the Palestinians. Menachem Begin once said, “Palestinians are beasts walking on two legs.” Former IDF chief Rafael Eitan said, “a good Arab is a dead Arab.” 75% of Jewish high-schoolers said that Arabs were uneducated, uncivilized and unclean.” I picture a Palestinian boy in an ad, holding a bar of Bar Israel soap in the shower, with the tag line: “Get yourself Zionist clean …Well almost!” As we see, defense of the Occupation demands these juvenile racist attitudes from its exulted leaders down to its well-indoctrinated high schoolers.
History: Transjordan (which becomes Jordan) controlled the West Bank until 1967, when the IDF (minus Gal Gadot) conquered it. Fun Fact: Israeli seizure of Palestinian land is actually is illegal as Israeli laws clearly protect private property. Iran and Iraq are Shia, while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE are Sunni. In 1893, Arabs were 95% of the Palestine population. The people without a land had wanted a land that was occupied by another people. In 1947, Ben-Gurion tells a meeting, “we want the land of Israel in its entirety. That was the original intention.” “One cannot ignore the fact that the creation of Israel involved additional crimes against a largely innocent third party: the Palestinians.”
Nakba: the Zionist myth is that all the Arabs fled because their leaders told him too. Most Arab leaders said stay, but “fear of violent death at the hands of Zionist forces led most of them to flee.” Moshe Dayan said, “There is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former population.” Ben Gurion said, “They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?” He also said, “If I was an Arab leader, I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them?” Ben Gurion wrote, “If we accuse a family – we need to harm them without mercy, women and children included. Otherwise, this is not an effective reaction. There is no need to distinguish between guilty and not guilty.” If we were told that quote was by Himmler, we’d be deeply outraged but instead killing Palestinians including children goes without notice.
Zionist Comedy: Pretending Israel adheres to “a purity of arms” (avoiding taking out civilians). Sharon calling the IDF “the most moral army in the world” without laughing; straight comedians like Sharon who saying their lines without laughing, are underestimated. Destroy what belongs to others: Amnesty International reports that “between 1967 and 2003, Israel destroyed more than ten thousand homes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.” Former Prime Minister Barak once said, if he had been born Palestinian, he “would have joined a terrorist organization.” What do you think Zionists would do if their situations with the Palestinians were reversed? Sit and take it? The Zionist Irgun used to put bombs on buses and in large crowds – now that’s when terrorists were REALLY assholes. Even Zionist historian Benny Morris admits, “the Arabs may well have learned the value of terrorist bombings from the Jews.” Even Prime Minister Levi Eshkol referred to Begin as “the terrorist.”
Fun Facts: “In 2004, a well-regarded survey found that 36% of Jewish Americans were either ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ emotionally attached to Israel.” “there are dozens of pro-Israel PACS ready to funnel money to candidates whose opponents are deemed either insufficiently supportive of or hostile to Israel.” “The final Israeli proposal at Camp David in 2000 would not have given the Palestinians a continuous piece of sovereign territory in the West Bank.” An Israeli former minister said, “If I were a Palestinian, I would have rejected Camp David as well.” Between 1993 and the Second Intifada seven years later, Israel confiscated 40,000+ acres and built 250 miles of bypass and security roads. Israel also “fired more than a million bullets in the first days of the Second intifada.
review continues in comment section. cheers...
Both authors clearly state they are pro-Israel and in NO way question Israel’s right to exist or the legitimacy of the Jewish state. They also don’t want to see Israel turned into a binational democracy. Yet they still have deep concerns. “No lobby (other than the Israel lobby) has diverted that policy (foreign) as far from what the American national interest would suggest. The Israel lobby has successfully convinced many Americans that American and Israeli interests are essentially identical.” Deviating from waving the blue and white flag, can get Americans called an anti-Semite or self-hating Jew. Jimmy Carter got blasted for calling Israel apartheid EVEN though he “unambiguously defends Israel’s right to live in peace and security.” “Some critics even charged him with being sympathetic to Nazis.” Even so, “A considerable number of Americans -almost 40%- recognize that US support for Israel is one of the main causes of anti-Americanism around the world.” In one poll, 39% “said they believe that the ‘work of the Israeli lobby on Congress and the Bush administration has been a key factor for going to war in Iraq and now confronting Iran.” But when you ask non-Americans, “a 2006 survey of international scholars in the United States, 66 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement ‘the Israeli lobby has too much influence over US foreign policy’.”
Journalist Michael Massig wrote that a congressional staffer sympathetic to Israel told him, “We can count on well over half the House – 250-300 members – to do reflexively whatever AIPAC wants.” A former AIPAC official told a New Yorker journalist, “In twenty-four hours, we could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.” The authors say although there is a “strong moral case” for the existence of Israel, they do not have a “moral case for giving it such generous and largely unconditional support.”
Israel Aid: As of 2005, direct US assistance to Israel totaled almost $154 billion. With numbers like that, its funny that we can’t “afford” free healthcare. Israel became our biggest aid recipient in 1976. Israel gets this money as loans because of a loophole: loans don’t require US supervision, and these ‘loans’ are like no other loans you’ve heard of – they have no interest, and Israel doesn’t even have to pay them back - redefining the word “loan”. Israel doesn’t have to tell us anything about how they spent our money, and more insulting is this: “Israel receives a direct lump-sum transfer” Why should we care? Because a lump-sum transfer carries an exemption that “makes it virtually impossible for the United States to prevent its subsidies from being used for purposes that it opposes, such as building settlements on the West Bank.” We US taxpayers get the joy of subsidizing this and this translates to $500 per year for each Israeli, while our second largest aid recipient Egypt gets annually $20 per Egyptian. As we continue down the color line, the US aid to Haiti annually is $5 per person. In addition, private individuals in the US give Israel a cool $2 billion annually. Why so much? Because of a loophole, private donations to Israel, and only Israel, from the US are tax-deductible. Shimon Peres said that “private contributions from Israel’s wealthy diaspora Jews had helped finance Israel’s clandestine (blatantly illegal) nuclear program in the 1950’s and 1960’s.” Funny how most foreign aid recipients get paid in installments while Israel gets all her money upfront at the beginning of the year. In return, Israel delights the world with being the world’s 8th largest arms supplier. Not bad for a country smaller than New Hampshire. Right winger Daniel Pipes wrote that Israel had become so wealthy that “American willingness to provide aid to Israel is no longer purely based on need.” And Egypt and Jordan get US money because they were willing “to sign peace treaties with Israel.”
The US halted shipping cluster bombs to Israel when they used them on civilians in Lebanon in 1982, but then in a Texas two-Step started resupplying them in 1988 – after all, unexploded bomblets look just like toys to children (google Reuters for bomblet images), what could go wrong? The US halted financing Israel for a few months in 90’s but started up again when Rabin replaced Shamir.
Israel Pretending it Has No Nuclear: In 1968, the CIA’s director told LBJ Israel now has nuclear weaponry. LBJ told him fast that no one but him could know this, and Sy Hersh said it was because if LBJ said he knew, he’d have to legally act on it. In addition to Israel with the secret nuclear thing, Israel has other illegal weaponry – active chemical and biological weaponry – and note our second favorite rogue state (Israel) never ratified both the Chemical and Biological Weapons Convention. Comic relief: The US pressures other countries to join the NPT, while Israel remains invisible. And Israel relentlessly bombs Gaza with US made bombs while Gaza remains invisible. Perhaps the US ought to see an oculist if can’t see something that is directly in its field of vision. Those of us with vision see how the US still gives aid to Israel even though it refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Why is Israel like the Doris Day song, “Teacher’s Pet.”? Why does the US give Israel complete immunity? and zero accountability no matter who or how many it kills? When Israel annexed Golan Heights, it STILL got unrestricted aid. When Israel used illegal US cluster munitions in Lebanon or White Phosphorus (violating US law), it still got unrestricted aid.
By the 70’s US Middle Eastern policy was open support for Israel. Then comes the Israel’s complicity in the slaughter at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps – depending on who you talk to the death toll was 700 to 2,000 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. “Instead of sanctioning Israel for invading a neighboring country (Lebanon), Congress voted to give Israel an additional $250 million in military assistance in December 1982”. That vote was so over the top even Schultz and Reagan tried to stop that aid package. Between 1976 and 2006, six Israeli leaders addressed Congress, that’s easily more than any other country. Instead of paying for free healthcare for the American people, Yitzhak Rabin said American generosity to Israel is “beyond compare in modern history.”
George Marshall and George Kennan did not want Truman to support Israel in ’48 because it was unnecessarily divisive for the Arabs in the region. The authors say Israel is now a strategic liability for the US, especially since the end of the Cold War. Famed historian Bernard Lewis wrote, “Whatever value Israel might have had as a strategic asset during the Cold War, that value obviously ended when the Cold War came to a close.” The $2.2 billion of US support for Israel during the October War caused the Arab oil embargo in response which cost the US $48.5 billion and a 2% reduction in GDP.
“Terrorism”: In 2002, Congress passes the Comedy Resolutions which both declared (the world’s two biggest terrorists) “the United States and Israel are now engaged in a common struggle against terrorism”. Apparently, no one told Congress that terrorism is not an enemy but a tactic, for example, Israel’s intentional bombing of civilians in Gaza today, or the Philippine Bud Dajo Massacre by US soldiers. The US and Israel are routinely increasing the risk of blowback by their own acts of terrorism, and Chalmers Johnson wrote a great book about it (Blowback). Noam says, if you want to stop terrorism, stop participating in it. No Congress member will tell you how the “Zionists used terrorism” – bombing the King David Hotel in ’46 or assassinating UN mediator Folke Bernadotte in ’48, or the US used it in backing the Contras or the UNITA guerrillas. In fact, the US has entertained former terrorists like Shamir, Arafat, and Begin. Note unlike al Qaeda, that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah do not threaten or attack the US. If you want to deflate those three fast, stop the occupation. “The PLO was secular and nationalist – not Islamist.”
Historically, occupied people have used terrorism as a tactic, so it should surprise no one that in Kashmir or Western Sahara, or Gaza one might see armed resistance or terrorism. Yet Zionist PR would have you believe Palestinian resistance has no connection to the Occupation. Bin Laden told us in speeches that he was motivated by the injustices caused the Palestinians – why did we not learn from his demo? He wanted to hit the Capitol on 9/11 because he saw it as the “perceived source of US policy in support of Israel.” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed also “was primarily motivated by the Palestinian issue.” “No other issue resonates with the public in the Arab world, and many parts of the Muslim world, more deeply than Palestine.” The authors say without the Israel lobby, they doubt the US would have attacked Iraq. Chapter 8 is about how Israel was the big reason why the US rushed to attack Iraq after 9/11 (until now I thought the top reasons were US oil lust and Saddam abandoning the dollar).
“A 2004 report by the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board concluded that ‘Muslims do not hate our freedoms, but rather, our policies.” Polled Muslims in a Zogby Poll said the #1 thing the US could do to change its image was “stop supporting Israel”. King Abdullah II of Jordan said in 2007, “the denial of justice and peace in Palestine …is the core issue.” 52 former British diplomats sent Tony Blair a letter saying the Israel/Palestine conflict needed to be resolved now and then 88 former US diplomats sent a letter to Bush saying the same thing. The message was that continuing unbridled support for Israel would “most certainly lead to new waves of terror.” The authors say, “on balance” US support for Israel has become “more of a liability than an asset”.
Lebanon: 1982 is Israel’s First Lebanon War (the IDF only leaves Lebanon 18 years later) and 2006 is the Second when Israel “dumped several million deadly cluster bomblets in the towns and villages of southern Lebanon.” In case, anyone cares, cluster bombs on civilians is a war crime. Unexploded cluster bombs act as land mines, and look like a toy to children– the gift that keeps on giving. In 72 hours alone, “the IDF fired over one million bomblets (from cluster bombs) into Southern Lebanon.” The US was the ONLY country “that enthusiastically supported Israel’s actions in Lebanon.” One rogue state defending another; birds of a feather, do flock together - and note both are birds of prey. In one month, the Israeli Air force launched more than 7,000 air attacks on Lebanon while its Navy did 2,500 more. All this turned a whopping one quarter of all Lebanese into refugees. Hezbollah’s popularity surged in response to these Israel attacks on Lebanon in 2006 as the Lebanese and the world were blaming Israel - the very opposite of what Israel intended. Oops… Israel’s war pushed Hezbollah, Iran and Syria closer together. Counter-productive much? Amnesty International reported that Israel targeted Lebanese supermarkets, food stores, auto service and gas stations with “precision-guided munitions and artillery that started fires and destroyed their contents.” That’s how you get people to leave – Intentionally give others their OWN Exodus. Of course, targeting civilian areas is a war crime, but rogue states don’t face consequences. “Israel deliberately attacked a wide array of civilian targets in Lebanon, just as (Israeli) General Halutz said that they would.”
“With the possible exception of Iran, it is hard to make the case today that Israel’s neighbors are bent on destroying it.” After the 1967 War, Egypt & Syria were trying to regain territories lost to Israel, and “neither aimed to destroy Israel.” The authors find that US extreme generosity to Israel is not because Israel is “exceptionally virtuous.” “If backing the underdog were a compelling rationale, the United States would be supporting Israel’s opponents.” Even if you buy that Israel is somehow a “democracy”, there are plenty of other democracies on this planet – and none get Israel’s treatment. Don’t forget the US has overthrown its share of democratic governments too. “Paradoxically, it is much easier to criticize Israeli policy (in Israel) than in the United States.” In fact, “There is much more criticism of Israel’s actions in Israel itself than there is in America.”
Jim Crow Redux against Arabs: “Israel’s 1.6 million Arabs are treated as second-class citizens.” A March 2007 poll showed “55 percent of Israeli Jews wanted segregated entertainment facilities and more than 75 percent said they would not live in the same building as an Arab.” “More than half the respondents said for a Jewish woman to marry an Arab is equal to national treason.” Wow! Who thinks backing Israel hurts the image of the US worldwide? 78% of members of the news media, 72% of both military leaders and security experts, and 69% of foreign policy specialists, that’s who. Funny how mainstream media will never tell you this.
Zionism is fueled by this image of Jewish people having been victims suffering the world’s “absolute hatred for an entire ethnic group”, yet ask the average Israeli high-schooler and they will happily tell you all about their “absolute hatred for an entire ethnic group” and it’s the Palestinians. Menachem Begin once said, “Palestinians are beasts walking on two legs.” Former IDF chief Rafael Eitan said, “a good Arab is a dead Arab.” 75% of Jewish high-schoolers said that Arabs were uneducated, uncivilized and unclean.” I picture a Palestinian boy in an ad, holding a bar of Bar Israel soap in the shower, with the tag line: “Get yourself Zionist clean …Well almost!” As we see, defense of the Occupation demands these juvenile racist attitudes from its exulted leaders down to its well-indoctrinated high schoolers.
History: Transjordan (which becomes Jordan) controlled the West Bank until 1967, when the IDF (minus Gal Gadot) conquered it. Fun Fact: Israeli seizure of Palestinian land is actually is illegal as Israeli laws clearly protect private property. Iran and Iraq are Shia, while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE are Sunni. In 1893, Arabs were 95% of the Palestine population. The people without a land had wanted a land that was occupied by another people. In 1947, Ben-Gurion tells a meeting, “we want the land of Israel in its entirety. That was the original intention.” “One cannot ignore the fact that the creation of Israel involved additional crimes against a largely innocent third party: the Palestinians.”
Nakba: the Zionist myth is that all the Arabs fled because their leaders told him too. Most Arab leaders said stay, but “fear of violent death at the hands of Zionist forces led most of them to flee.” Moshe Dayan said, “There is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former population.” Ben Gurion said, “They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?” He also said, “If I was an Arab leader, I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them?” Ben Gurion wrote, “If we accuse a family – we need to harm them without mercy, women and children included. Otherwise, this is not an effective reaction. There is no need to distinguish between guilty and not guilty.” If we were told that quote was by Himmler, we’d be deeply outraged but instead killing Palestinians including children goes without notice.
Zionist Comedy: Pretending Israel adheres to “a purity of arms” (avoiding taking out civilians). Sharon calling the IDF “the most moral army in the world” without laughing; straight comedians like Sharon who saying their lines without laughing, are underestimated. Destroy what belongs to others: Amnesty International reports that “between 1967 and 2003, Israel destroyed more than ten thousand homes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.” Former Prime Minister Barak once said, if he had been born Palestinian, he “would have joined a terrorist organization.” What do you think Zionists would do if their situations with the Palestinians were reversed? Sit and take it? The Zionist Irgun used to put bombs on buses and in large crowds – now that’s when terrorists were REALLY assholes. Even Zionist historian Benny Morris admits, “the Arabs may well have learned the value of terrorist bombings from the Jews.” Even Prime Minister Levi Eshkol referred to Begin as “the terrorist.”
Fun Facts: “In 2004, a well-regarded survey found that 36% of Jewish Americans were either ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ emotionally attached to Israel.” “there are dozens of pro-Israel PACS ready to funnel money to candidates whose opponents are deemed either insufficiently supportive of or hostile to Israel.” “The final Israeli proposal at Camp David in 2000 would not have given the Palestinians a continuous piece of sovereign territory in the West Bank.” An Israeli former minister said, “If I were a Palestinian, I would have rejected Camp David as well.” Between 1993 and the Second Intifada seven years later, Israel confiscated 40,000+ acres and built 250 miles of bypass and security roads. Israel also “fired more than a million bullets in the first days of the Second intifada.
review continues in comment section. cheers...
August 11, 2012
I had really high expectations for this book but unfortunately the authors have managed to write a book full of naivite, incorrect claims and too much good faith in the US government. The book does give plenty of insight into the world of the Israel lobby (AIPAC, WINEP etc) on Capitol hill and elsewhere yet manages to make bizarre conclusions. Maersheimer and Walt claim that the primary reason for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 was the pressure upon politicians by the Israel lobby. I regard it to be highly unlikely that powerhouses such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were only guided by AIPAC and others in creating trillions worth of debt and sacrificing many American soldiers.
The authors make another ludicrous claim in saying that the United States' and Israel's interests include the combatting of terrorism. Israel and the US have benefited from terrorism, be it economically, politically or in the realm of geopolitics. It is an unwritten law that nations and empires gain from the existence of an enemy within and an enemy without. The same goes for these two nations.
To pretend that the American government's wishes contain the spread of democracy and stability is another preposterous claim. What then about the CIA-creation of plenty of dictatorships such as those in Brazil, Chile, Argentine, El Salvador, Guatamala, Haiti, Iran (post-1979) and support of dictatorships in the past such as those under Moammar Ghaddafi, Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak?
The authors make another ludicrous claim in saying that the United States' and Israel's interests include the combatting of terrorism. Israel and the US have benefited from terrorism, be it economically, politically or in the realm of geopolitics. It is an unwritten law that nations and empires gain from the existence of an enemy within and an enemy without. The same goes for these two nations.
To pretend that the American government's wishes contain the spread of democracy and stability is another preposterous claim. What then about the CIA-creation of plenty of dictatorships such as those in Brazil, Chile, Argentine, El Salvador, Guatamala, Haiti, Iran (post-1979) and support of dictatorships in the past such as those under Moammar Ghaddafi, Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak?
January 15, 2021
Mearsheimer and Walt are two respected scholars who took on this project and the invitation of Atlantic Monthly - both were very aware that they were about to kick a hornets nest. The reaction to their outstanding work is perhaps the ultimate vindication of their points. While this particular exposé discusses the role of the Lobby in US foreign policy, a discussion about the role of the Lobby in domestic policy would be just as enlightened to be sure.
The relevance and importance of the authors' approach to this issue cannot be overstated as it relates to the foreign policy crisis of our time - US relations in the Middle East. By illustrating the damaging influence the Israel Lobby has had in this regard, Mearsheimer and Walt present a great service to the leadership of the US, as well as to the public at large. When after the catastrophe of 9/11 the public wondered 'why do they hate us?' they were told that it was because 'they' 'hated our freedom' rather than the truth - that the US/Israel 'special relationship' has damaged nearly all other relationships in the Middle East.
Part I of The Israel Lobby covers the nature of that 'special relationship' - the US role in propping up the dangerous state as its 'Great Benefactor', the role of the Lobby in guiding US foreign policy process, the domination of the Lobby and its lackeys (my word) in policy discourse. The authors question is Israel a 'strategic asset or liability?' It is clear from their research that because of the 'dwindling moral case' the answer is the later. If the US is to stand on its promise of freedom, justice, and international law, in the eyes of the world, and in the Middle East in particular, this 'special relationship' is a horrid strategic liability (to say the least).
Part II covers 'The Lobby In Action' - and it is infuriating. The chapter, Taking Aim At Syria is profoundly prescient in light of today's catastrophe which has resulted from the issues noted by the authors.
The Israel Lobby is an international best seller - it was first published in 2007. The authors' hoped that their research would produce a meaningful dialog that could bring about some changes to the glaring problems discussed. Today, at the end of 2016, the Lobby is as strong and damaging in its influence as it ever was. President Barack Obama's decision to instruct the US ambassador to the UN to abstain in the UN Security Council's vote on the Israeli settlement resolution was profound - unfortunately it came it the end of his terms in office.
This is a must read for every person who seeks the real world answer to the question: 'Why do they hate us?'
The relevance and importance of the authors' approach to this issue cannot be overstated as it relates to the foreign policy crisis of our time - US relations in the Middle East. By illustrating the damaging influence the Israel Lobby has had in this regard, Mearsheimer and Walt present a great service to the leadership of the US, as well as to the public at large. When after the catastrophe of 9/11 the public wondered 'why do they hate us?' they were told that it was because 'they' 'hated our freedom' rather than the truth - that the US/Israel 'special relationship' has damaged nearly all other relationships in the Middle East.
Part I of The Israel Lobby covers the nature of that 'special relationship' - the US role in propping up the dangerous state as its 'Great Benefactor', the role of the Lobby in guiding US foreign policy process, the domination of the Lobby and its lackeys (my word) in policy discourse. The authors question is Israel a 'strategic asset or liability?' It is clear from their research that because of the 'dwindling moral case' the answer is the later. If the US is to stand on its promise of freedom, justice, and international law, in the eyes of the world, and in the Middle East in particular, this 'special relationship' is a horrid strategic liability (to say the least).
Part II covers 'The Lobby In Action' - and it is infuriating. The chapter, Taking Aim At Syria is profoundly prescient in light of today's catastrophe which has resulted from the issues noted by the authors.
The Israel Lobby is an international best seller - it was first published in 2007. The authors' hoped that their research would produce a meaningful dialog that could bring about some changes to the glaring problems discussed. Today, at the end of 2016, the Lobby is as strong and damaging in its influence as it ever was. President Barack Obama's decision to instruct the US ambassador to the UN to abstain in the UN Security Council's vote on the Israeli settlement resolution was profound - unfortunately it came it the end of his terms in office.
This is a must read for every person who seeks the real world answer to the question: 'Why do they hate us?'
January 25, 2025
على الرغم من أن كلمة "لوبي" لها وقع سيء على الآذان العربية، إلا أنها شيء معترف به ومسلّم به في ال��ياسة الأمريكية. وهي جماعات الضغط والمصالح، وتعلن تلك الجماعات غاياتها بوضوح وبدون إخفاء أي نوايا من جهتها لتوجيه دفة التشريعات والسياسات التنفيذية لمصالحها. يوجد في أمريكا لوبيات كثيرة، وأكبرها اللوبي الإسرائيلي بالطبع، ويرجع هذا إلى أن الولايات المتحدة استقبلت اليهود وغيرهم من المنبوذين لاعتبارات دينية على أرضها. يذكر الكاتب هنا بالتفصيل كيف أثر اللوبي الإسرائيلي في كثير من الأحيان على القرارات الأمريكية، خصوصًا في السياسة الخارجية تجاه منطقة الشرق الأوسط، لمصلحة إسرائيل، وحتى إن كان هذا يشكل عبئًا استراتيجيًا بعيد المدى على الولايات المتحدة.
يُسهب الكاتب في ذكر ما آلت إليه حرب العراق وأفغانستان، وكيف تم تعطيل عملية السلام الفلسطينية-الإسرائيلية، واغتيال عرفات سياسيًا بعد معاهدة أوسلو. يستفيض الكاتب في ذكر طبيعة العلاقة الغريبة التي تجمع مؤ��سة "أيباك" وأعضاء الكونجرس ومجلس الشيوخ، حيث لا يستطيع أحد أن يطأ كرسي الكونجرس دون تقديم فروض الولاء لإسرائيل، والاعتراف بالتصويت على كل القوانين الداعمة لها. كما يوضح كيف تم إفشال العديد من المرشحين الذين عُرفوا بعدم ولائهم الكافي للقضية الإسرائيلية. يحاول الكاتب أن يوضح أن من مصلحة أمريكا عدم الانجرار وراء إسرائيل إلى هذا الحد، مع تأكيد التزام أمريكا بأمن إسرائيل، مثل أمن كوريا الجنوبية واليابان مثلًا.
دائمًا ما تكون للإمبراطوريات نموذج الأمن العالمي الخاص بها، ويتم صياغته بحذر شديد لعدم الإخلال بقواعد الأمن وموازين القوة العالمية. وقد نجحت إسرائيل في استغلال نموذج الأمن الخاص بأمريكا في كل مرة تقريبًا.
May 22, 2024
Anyone living in the West knows America has a particularly cozy relationship with Israel. But why? According to the The Israel Lobby, written by University of Chicago and Harvard Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, respectively, argue that Israel has garnered the irrevocable and enduring support of well-financed lobbying groups such as the American Jewish Committee, Christians United for Israel and AIPAC. These loosely formed coalitions have justified their advocacy for Israel on multiple levels - from its Biblical roots as the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, to it being an isolated, vulnerable Western democracy surrounded by enemies and of course to safeguard the interests of the US in the middle east. According to them, "The Lobby" has been incredibly effective and consequentially Israel has received the unequivocal support of America and billions in financial aid, more than any other nation hitherto.
In "The Israel Lobby", Mearsheimer and Walt argue that a part of the reason for the Lobby's success is because it effectively silences any criticism of American-Israeli alliance. While Capital Hill is divided on other issues such as taxation, LGBT rights, health care or gun control - they are almost obsequious when it comes to their support for Israel. Critically, this is not because of any organized conspiracy - every lobbying organization in America (such as the NRA), works hard to protect their policy interests, but according to them, Lobby has been particularly effective and wield disproportionate influence.
Remarkably, Israel receives this aid almost unconditionally, even when it ignores agreements and jeopardizes US interests in the region. For example, the Israeli government continues to build illegal settlements on the West Bank, despite America's silent protests. The result? The entire Arab-Muslim world counts America as responsible for the crimes Israel commits, the expansionist policies of the Israel government, they argue, are the principal substrate by which fosters terrorism from the Middle East. Israel's treatment of the Palestinians has severely damaged American relations with the Muslim world and actually cultivated - as opposed to suppressed - terrorism. Notably, because Israel has deflected talks about a two-state solution, the authors argue this endangers Israel as well.
While I found this book highly informative, dispassionately written and rigorous - I note two flaws. First, the book comes across as a little too soft on the Palestinians at times, and I question the validity of the "studies" cited. For example, there is ample evidence that Palestinian society (as well as the Arab world writ large) have chosen to cultivate a particularly virulent strain of anti-semitism; which culminated with the intifada. Yet somehow this does not get mentioned in the book. While the Israeli government has drifted rightward in recent years, there is also no mention of how the intifada essentially transformed Israeli society to embrace the right-wing rhetoric of Bibi. As such, it is my opinion that the militarism of the Palestinians during the Intifada only worsened their plight.
Second, while Israel did support the invasion of Iraq - the authors appear to believe that this was a central reason the war ever happened. This is untrue, as we now know.
Nonetheless, this is an excellent and brave book to write during the oughts, particularly when anti-terrorism fervor and pro-liberal democratic edification was in vogue.
In "The Israel Lobby", Mearsheimer and Walt argue that a part of the reason for the Lobby's success is because it effectively silences any criticism of American-Israeli alliance. While Capital Hill is divided on other issues such as taxation, LGBT rights, health care or gun control - they are almost obsequious when it comes to their support for Israel. Critically, this is not because of any organized conspiracy - every lobbying organization in America (such as the NRA), works hard to protect their policy interests, but according to them, Lobby has been particularly effective and wield disproportionate influence.
Remarkably, Israel receives this aid almost unconditionally, even when it ignores agreements and jeopardizes US interests in the region. For example, the Israeli government continues to build illegal settlements on the West Bank, despite America's silent protests. The result? The entire Arab-Muslim world counts America as responsible for the crimes Israel commits, the expansionist policies of the Israel government, they argue, are the principal substrate by which fosters terrorism from the Middle East. Israel's treatment of the Palestinians has severely damaged American relations with the Muslim world and actually cultivated - as opposed to suppressed - terrorism. Notably, because Israel has deflected talks about a two-state solution, the authors argue this endangers Israel as well.
While I found this book highly informative, dispassionately written and rigorous - I note two flaws. First, the book comes across as a little too soft on the Palestinians at times, and I question the validity of the "studies" cited. For example, there is ample evidence that Palestinian society (as well as the Arab world writ large) have chosen to cultivate a particularly virulent strain of anti-semitism; which culminated with the intifada. Yet somehow this does not get mentioned in the book. While the Israeli government has drifted rightward in recent years, there is also no mention of how the intifada essentially transformed Israeli society to embrace the right-wing rhetoric of Bibi. As such, it is my opinion that the militarism of the Palestinians during the Intifada only worsened their plight.
Second, while Israel did support the invasion of Iraq - the authors appear to believe that this was a central reason the war ever happened. This is untrue, as we now know.
Nonetheless, this is an excellent and brave book to write during the oughts, particularly when anti-terrorism fervor and pro-liberal democratic edification was in vogue.
October 18, 2018
Bir çoğumuz ABD’nin koşulsuz şartsız her zaman İsrail’in yanında olduğunu bilir ama nasıl bu kadar güçlü olabildiklerinin kaynağını bu kitap ile öğrenmiş oldum.Abd’nin Ortadoğu’ya demokrasi (❗️❗️❗️) götürme çabalarının bir çoğunun da İsrail çıkarlarını korumaya yönelik çabalar ya da İsrail kışkırtmalı girişimler olduğunu da...Lobi faaliyetlerinin bu kadar güçlü olmasının sebebi ise siyasette etkili olabilecek her kim varsa;mutlaka seçim çalışmalarındaki para kaynağı Yahudi’lerden geliyormuş.Böylece onları desteklemeyen birisi Amerikan siyasetinde kendine yer bulamıyormuş.Medya desen en güçlü şekliyle onların elinde.En zayıf oldukları alan ise üniversitelermiş.Bu kitabın Amerikalı akademisyen yazarları da oldukça büyük tehditlere maruz kalmışlar.Amerika’nın en ikiyüzlü yanı da demokrasi konusunda eşsiz bir ülke görüntüsü sürerken tamamen İsrail merkezli bir siyaset izleyerek kendi ülkesinde demokratik yaklaşımları engellemesi ve İsrail karşıtı en ufak bir sese müsade etmemeleri.Bildiğimiz şeylere farklı bir açıdan yaklaşması ve tamamen olmasa da objektif tarzı nedeniyle kitabı çok beğendim.Kitabın inceliğine aldanmayın.Benim gibi konuya ilgisi olanlar için geriye dönüşlerle ve altını çizerek okuyunca ancak bitti.Tavsiye ediyorum.
January 1, 2016
A modern day version of the anti-Semitic screed "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".
Walt and Mearsheimer set out not to just bash Israel, but American Jews. While they lambast Israel a threat to America and supposedly "normal" Americans, it is their self-proclaimed cabal of American Jews who they hunt and label as a fifth column who would eagerly bring down the Republic.
That the two have followed up this disgusting work by attending Palestinian advocacy meetings while holding up their secret lists of good Jews and bad (reminiscent of the Nazis who would decide which Jews were worthy of life and which were to be immediately put to death, or closer to home, Senator Joseph McCarthy's Communist witch hunts) and praising and supporting blatant anti-Semites such as Gilad Atzmon) the two shred any credibility offered by their professional credentials.
In short, this is a work of two very blatant hate-mongers who join a long and infamous list of people seeking to demonize, dehumanize, and delegitimize Jews.
Walt and Mearsheimer set out not to just bash Israel, but American Jews. While they lambast Israel a threat to America and supposedly "normal" Americans, it is their self-proclaimed cabal of American Jews who they hunt and label as a fifth column who would eagerly bring down the Republic.
That the two have followed up this disgusting work by attending Palestinian advocacy meetings while holding up their secret lists of good Jews and bad (reminiscent of the Nazis who would decide which Jews were worthy of life and which were to be immediately put to death, or closer to home, Senator Joseph McCarthy's Communist witch hunts) and praising and supporting blatant anti-Semites such as Gilad Atzmon) the two shred any credibility offered by their professional credentials.
In short, this is a work of two very blatant hate-mongers who join a long and infamous list of people seeking to demonize, dehumanize, and delegitimize Jews.
Want to read
July 2, 2018On the left, the woke anti-imperialist position seems to be that the Israel lobby isn't all that significant. Israel is a proxy of the US, not the other way around. I understand the good intentions of saying this, but is it actually true?
Walt and Mearsheimer do present some compelling evidence here to the contrary. The chapter on Iraq is especially interesting. Because, honestly, what the hell was that about? I don't think oil quite suffices as an explanation. What if Israel wants to be surrounded by failed states, to be the only power left standing in the region?
The chapter on the second Lebanon war is also excellent. What Israel did would make any fair observer into a Hezbollah supporter. How could virtually every politician in America support something so monstrous? No doubt the lobby's money had a lot to do with it. At the same time, we shouldn't forget the US political establishment has given near-unanimous support to other equally destructive and pointless crimes. Hard to blame, say, the bombing of Laos or the US-backed invasion of East Timor on Israel. The authors do at times picture America as this naïve, easily misled hegemon.
My mind still is not made up. It's a tricky empirical question.
Walt and Mearsheimer do present some compelling evidence here to the contrary. The chapter on Iraq is especially interesting. Because, honestly, what the hell was that about? I don't think oil quite suffices as an explanation. What if Israel wants to be surrounded by failed states, to be the only power left standing in the region?
The chapter on the second Lebanon war is also excellent. What Israel did would make any fair observer into a Hezbollah supporter. How could virtually every politician in America support something so monstrous? No doubt the lobby's money had a lot to do with it. At the same time, we shouldn't forget the US political establishment has given near-unanimous support to other equally destructive and pointless crimes. Hard to blame, say, the bombing of Laos or the US-backed invasion of East Timor on Israel. The authors do at times picture America as this naïve, easily misled hegemon.
My mind still is not made up. It's a tricky empirical question.
November 12, 2024
learned a lot! I presume if you have been on top of the Israel/Palestine conflict for many years, this would not be revelatory. But no matter what level of knowledge you have going into this…you cannot argue that it is not well researched.
Made me really wanna learn about Jimmy Carter?!
Made me really wanna learn about Jimmy Carter?!
May 23, 2020
Growing Up In The Middle East I Was Always Kinda Confused About The American-Israeli Unconditional Affiliation And The Conflicts Between America And The Islamic World (Turning A Blind Eye On Some While Heavily Criticizing Some. Tho Reality Cannot Be Ignored Forever).
On Top Of That, The Mainstream Media Never Seemed To Explore This Subject, Naturally Leading To Increased Underground Conspiracy Theories Around The Subject.
Finally, I Got The Opportunity To Pick This Book (One Book Leads To Another).
Long Story Short This Book Melted The Whole Ball-Of-Wax For Me.
The Book Will Give You A Total Different Perspective And Help You Dissect Between The Facts And The Theories.
It Has More Than 150 Pages Of References From Credible And Official Data, Which Makes It A Lot More Authentic And Worth Your Time. I Would Recommend You Pick Up The Book Just Because Of The Compilation Of Data And Polls It Provides, Fascinating. Facts In This Book Will Shock You(I Wonder How Much Energy Goes Into Writing On These Subjects).
After Reading, I Have A Better Understanding Of How Current Lobby Groups Such As AIPAC, Zionist Organisation, Christians United for Israel, Etc. Operate.
If You Ever Had The Question, Are The Jews Exerting A Disproportionate Influence On The Us Foreign Policy? You Must Pick This Book.
It Surprises Me What You Can Find In Books. It's All Out There You Just Need To Dedicate Some Time To Become Educated Beings.
On Top Of That, The Mainstream Media Never Seemed To Explore This Subject, Naturally Leading To Increased Underground Conspiracy Theories Around The Subject.
Finally, I Got The Opportunity To Pick This Book (One Book Leads To Another).
Long Story Short This Book Melted The Whole Ball-Of-Wax For Me.
The Book Will Give You A Total Different Perspective And Help You Dissect Between The Facts And The Theories.
It Has More Than 150 Pages Of References From Credible And Official Data, Which Makes It A Lot More Authentic And Worth Your Time. I Would Recommend You Pick Up The Book Just Because Of The Compilation Of Data And Polls It Provides, Fascinating. Facts In This Book Will Shock You(I Wonder How Much Energy Goes Into Writing On These Subjects).
After Reading, I Have A Better Understanding Of How Current Lobby Groups Such As AIPAC, Zionist Organisation, Christians United for Israel, Etc. Operate.
If You Ever Had The Question, Are The Jews Exerting A Disproportionate Influence On The Us Foreign Policy? You Must Pick This Book.
It Surprises Me What You Can Find In Books. It's All Out There You Just Need To Dedicate Some Time To Become Educated Beings.
Read
April 30, 2024I’ve been meaning to read Mearsheimer for years, but now that my country has decided that it’s happy to continue providing back-office services to the Israeli state in its genocidal attack on the people of Gaza (and I say that as someone who hates bombastic rhetoric of any kind), I felt the need to finally visit the source material.
The less serious elements of the pro-Palestinian movement in the US like to use cagey, highly personal, faux-academic language like “question whether you have your settler-colonial assumptions.” Mearsheimer has zero patience for any of that. He is a hard-nosed realist (perhaps even a little too hard-nosed). He frames it in simple terms. Is it good for us as a nation to support Israeli militarism to the extent that we do? Or is it not? So why does our nation continue to do so? The answer, he points out is AIPAC and the rest, with significant input from various Christian nationalist creeps.
Did I learn much here? No, not really. But is it a necessary corpus of evidence and a classic argument? Yes.
The less serious elements of the pro-Palestinian movement in the US like to use cagey, highly personal, faux-academic language like “question whether you have your settler-colonial assumptions.” Mearsheimer has zero patience for any of that. He is a hard-nosed realist (perhaps even a little too hard-nosed). He frames it in simple terms. Is it good for us as a nation to support Israeli militarism to the extent that we do? Or is it not? So why does our nation continue to do so? The answer, he points out is AIPAC and the rest, with significant input from various Christian nationalist creeps.
Did I learn much here? No, not really. But is it a necessary corpus of evidence and a classic argument? Yes.
July 17, 2022
A very comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the impact of the Israel Lobby in the United States. Mearsheimer and Walt not only shine light on strategies and tactics used by pro-Israel lobbyists in influencing American politics, but also manage to conduct a detailed evaluation of US foreign policy in the Middle East as a direct consequence of the lobby's efforts. As such, the authors manage to make a convincing argument that the US carte-blanche stance towards Israel has failed miserably in ensuring key US interests in the region, such as guaranteeing oil flow, containing terrorism and promoting democracy. The book is a must-read for any person interested in Middle-Eastern politics, but its value as an academic contribution goes further: Mearsheimer and Walt manage to explain the tremendous impact of the Israel lobby and the seemingly "irrational" US foreign policy, without relying on conspiracy theories, but rather actual political science.
February 21, 2018
گفته میشود جان کری در مذاکرات هستهای به تیم ایرانی میگوید آمریکا کشور لابیها است. اگر به دنبال منافع خود هستید باید راه و رسم لابی کردن در آمریکا را بیاموزید.
این کتاب، کتابی حسابشده و دقیق در باب نقش و تاثیر گروههای فشار و لابیهای اسرائیل در سیاست خارجه آمریکا از دو تن از اساتید به نام روابط بینالملل، جنابان جان مرشایمر و استفن والت میباشد.
این دو شخصیتِ علمی دست بر روی موضوعی گذاشتند که حرف و حدیث پیرامون آن بسیار است! عدهای از طرفداران تئوریهای توطئه (که در کشورمان نیز تعدادشان کم نیست!) دائم از دستهای پشت پرد��ی اسرائیل و لابیها و لژهای مخوف آن صحبت میکنند، ابتدا باید گفت که از نام کتاب ذهنتان به سمت این دسته و تفکراتشان نرود. خیر! این کتاب، کتابی ایدئولوژیک و کیهانوار نیست.
مرشایمر و والت در این کتاب به عنوان دو استاد دانشگاه در آمریکا با نگاهی نقادانه، و نه ایدئولوژیک، به نقش و تاثیر گروهها و لابیهای اسرائیل در نظام سیاسی آمریکا میپردازند.
آنان به دنبال اثبات این موضوع هستند که نشان دهند تصمیمات و سیاستهایی که این گروهها برای حفظ منافع اسرائیل پیگیری میکنند تا چه حد میتواند برخلاف منافع ملی آمریکا باشد.
این گروهها، گروههایی غیرقانونی نیستند، بلکه در فضای سیاسی آمریکا چنین گروهها و لابیهایی وجود داشته و دارند، همچون لابی نفت، لابی اعراب، لابی هندیهای مقیم آمریکا و ... . این کتاب اما نشان میدهد که لابیهای اسرائیل، به ویژه آیپک، از نظر قدرت و نفوذ از دیگر لابیهای مشغول در آمریکا یک سر و گردن بالاتر هستند.
اگر به دنبال پاسخ به پرسشهایی همچون؛
چرا آمریکا انقدر هوای اسرائیل را دارد؟
چرا برای آمریکا اسرائیل کشوری خاص در دنیا به حساب میآید؟
چرا 70 سال پس از شکلگیری مناقشه فلسطین-اسرائیل و بعد از آمد و رفت این همه روسای جمهور آمریکا هنوز که هنوزه راه حل کامل و صلح پایداری برای این مناقشه پیدا نشده است؟
نقش این گروهها در حمله به عراق چه بود؟
نقش این گروهها در دشمنی بین ایران و آمریکا تا چه میزان است؟
و دیگر پرسشها... این کتاب پاسخهای مناسب و مستدلی برای این پرسشها دارد.
این کتاب، کتابی حسابشده و دقیق در باب نقش و تاثیر گروههای فشار و لابیهای اسرائیل در سیاست خارجه آمریکا از دو تن از اساتید به نام روابط بینالملل، جنابان جان مرشایمر و استفن والت میباشد.
این دو شخصیتِ علمی دست بر روی موضوعی گذاشتند که حرف و حدیث پیرامون آن بسیار است! عدهای از طرفداران تئوریهای توطئه (که در کشورمان نیز تعدادشان کم نیست!) دائم از دستهای پشت پرد��ی اسرائیل و لابیها و لژهای مخوف آن صحبت میکنند، ابتدا باید گفت که از نام کتاب ذهنتان به سمت این دسته و تفکراتشان نرود. خیر! این کتاب، کتابی ایدئولوژیک و کیهانوار نیست.
مرشایمر و والت در این کتاب به عنوان دو استاد دانشگاه در آمریکا با نگاهی نقادانه، و نه ایدئولوژیک، به نقش و تاثیر گروهها و لابیهای اسرائیل در نظام سیاسی آمریکا میپردازند.
آنان به دنبال اثبات این موضوع هستند که نشان دهند تصمیمات و سیاستهایی که این گروهها برای حفظ منافع اسرائیل پیگیری میکنند تا چه حد میتواند برخلاف منافع ملی آمریکا باشد.
این گروهها، گروههایی غیرقانونی نیستند، بلکه در فضای سیاسی آمریکا چنین گروهها و لابیهایی وجود داشته و دارند، همچون لابی نفت، لابی اعراب، لابی هندیهای مقیم آمریکا و ... . این کتاب اما نشان میدهد که لابیهای اسرائیل، به ویژه آیپک، از نظر قدرت و نفوذ از دیگر لابیهای مشغول در آمریکا یک سر و گردن بالاتر هستند.
اگر به دنبال پاسخ به پرسشهایی همچون؛
چرا آمریکا انقدر هوای اسرائیل را دارد؟
چرا برای آمریکا اسرائیل کشوری خاص در دنیا به حساب میآید؟
چرا 70 سال پس از شکلگیری مناقشه فلسطین-اسرائیل و بعد از آمد و رفت این همه روسای جمهور آمریکا هنوز که هنوزه راه حل کامل و صلح پایداری برای این مناقشه پیدا نشده است؟
نقش این گروهها در حمله به عراق چه بود؟
نقش این گروهها در دشمنی بین ایران و آمریکا تا چه میزان است؟
و دیگر پرسشها... این کتاب پاسخهای مناسب و مستدلی برای این پرسشها دارد.
February 8, 2020
A very informative, well researched, and courageous book. The authors recognize how the smear of anti-semitism is used to shut down criticism of Israel or their lobby yet they put out this book anyways. As expected, they were labelled anti-semites.
This book has changed the way that I think of Israel. It has wiped away all my preconceptions of Israel including that it is a valuable ally. It is clear now that a policy based on unconditional support of Israel is against America's best interest.
The authors laid out their case meticulously and shut down possible counter arguments. The book is comprehensive. I don't believe any other books on American-Israeli relationship needs to be read after this one.
The Iran nuclear agreement seems like a work of wonder considering all the obstacles the administration had to face. It is no wonder that they conducted the deal through back channels. It is also no wonder they didn't put the treaty before congress; no doubt that the lobby would have shut it down hard.
It is very discouraging to see Trump falling in line with the lobby. I have supported his foreign policy overall; he has withdrawn troops from the Middle East, he hasn't jumped into Syria, and holding NATO accountable is smart. If only he would hold Israel responsible too instead of acknowledging Jerusalem as the capitol and giving them Golan. No doubt his actions which have moved the USA closer to war with Iran have been supported by the lobby.
The style of this book is methodical and scientific. It is not a narrative, it is a political science book. It is not a challenging read though it does require a basic understanding of Israel's history. I would recommend this book to anyone frustrated with America's Middle East policy so that they can see the reasons behind it.
This book has changed the way that I think of Israel. It has wiped away all my preconceptions of Israel including that it is a valuable ally. It is clear now that a policy based on unconditional support of Israel is against America's best interest.
The authors laid out their case meticulously and shut down possible counter arguments. The book is comprehensive. I don't believe any other books on American-Israeli relationship needs to be read after this one.
The Iran nuclear agreement seems like a work of wonder considering all the obstacles the administration had to face. It is no wonder that they conducted the deal through back channels. It is also no wonder they didn't put the treaty before congress; no doubt that the lobby would have shut it down hard.
It is very discouraging to see Trump falling in line with the lobby. I have supported his foreign policy overall; he has withdrawn troops from the Middle East, he hasn't jumped into Syria, and holding NATO accountable is smart. If only he would hold Israel responsible too instead of acknowledging Jerusalem as the capitol and giving them Golan. No doubt his actions which have moved the USA closer to war with Iran have been supported by the lobby.
The style of this book is methodical and scientific. It is not a narrative, it is a political science book. It is not a challenging read though it does require a basic understanding of Israel's history. I would recommend this book to anyone frustrated with America's Middle East policy so that they can see the reasons behind it.
August 31, 2021
I saw this book on someone else's shelf and realized I'd never added it to mine. It's a pretty persuasive argument with a lot of evidence marshaled in support of it. US support for Israel has long been inconsistent with realism (why support the little country with no oil and tick off the many countries with lots of oil?), though the close strategic US-Israel relationship did begin as an effort to offset Soviet support for Arab states in the 1960s. But somehow the ties evolved into something well beyond that, remarkably bipartisan on the US side, with political rhetoric uniformly rooted in the weird mythology of Judeo-Christian commonality. Israel became un-criticizable and the US began to bend its own rules on the distribution of aid and military support as it made Israel a priority. How this happened seemed somewhat mysterious until Walt and Mearsheimer's article and then book, shedding light on how lobbies absorbed and channeled the interests and funds of the Christian right in the US and, of course, of American Jews.
Read
November 21, 2016Hitler would really liked this book
i cant believe this antisemitic book has been so famous
even in backward areas like my country you hear Clerics reciting this book while preaching hate lectures about Jews
sorry but this book is really amplify what anti semite believes about Jews
and i wouldnot surprise if it were found in Osama bin laden own library
please dont buy this CRAP
i cant believe this antisemitic book has been so famous
even in backward areas like my country you hear Clerics reciting this book while preaching hate lectures about Jews
sorry but this book is really amplify what anti semite believes about Jews
and i wouldnot surprise if it were found in Osama bin laden own library
please dont buy this CRAP
December 31, 2017
Who controls US foreign policy?
February 26, 2025
There is a lot of very good information in this book. Its well organized, clear and bullet proof. This topic to me is something that has been troubling me for some time, so to have such succinct breakdown of the history/policies makes this book special.
The one thing that did bother me throughout was the authors attempt’s throughout to shield himself from accusations of antisemitism. He would constantly reiterate how certain behaviours of the lobby were not “unusual” and weren’t “suspicious” for American lobby groups, and would chalk it up to it being “good old fashioned democracy”. For this reason, I recommend just using this book for the excellent info, and try to speed through his apology tour paragraphs.
I recommend this to anyone interested in AIPAC and Israeli influence in Washington. This is a hot book these days, and I think its an essential reading in thinking about this topic.
The one thing that did bother me throughout was the authors attempt’s throughout to shield himself from accusations of antisemitism. He would constantly reiterate how certain behaviours of the lobby were not “unusual” and weren’t “suspicious” for American lobby groups, and would chalk it up to it being “good old fashioned democracy”. For this reason, I recommend just using this book for the excellent info, and try to speed through his apology tour paragraphs.
I recommend this to anyone interested in AIPAC and Israeli influence in Washington. This is a hot book these days, and I think its an essential reading in thinking about this topic.
June 23, 2025
5 stars
From two of the most respected IR theorists in the game, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy is a chronicle of the successful efforts made by American lobbyists to drive US foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. This, as Mearsheimer and Walt note, is to the detriment of the United States, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and even Israel itself. The book makes strong assertions which I didn't expect it to make before jumping in, such as the firm stance that pro-Israel lobbying was a "necessary but insufficient" cause of the Iraq War. Overall, while I don't completely agree with everything written in this book, I find it to be an extremely well-sourced account of the history of the American pro-Israel lobby and its detrimental impact for the millions of people either born or sent to fight in the Middle East.
In a twisted stroke of fate, I was in the middle of reading the chapter on Iran when Israel's strikes in Iran made headline news. Not only did this book equip me in real-time with important information on Iran's government and political history, but it also showed me that the excuses made for bombing (and invading) Iran have been the same for the last several decades. It seems neoconservatives were itching to Americanize Iran for their Pax Americana fever dream for a while now, and Israel's current government seized their opportunity when it got the chance. Trump's outlook on the Middle East indicates to Israel a green light for their ongoing land conquest and pursuit of hegemony in the region.
The authors dismantle common arguments and narratives, such as the notion that "Israel is America's greatest strategic ally" or that "Israel only acts in self-defense". While for most who are pro-Palestine these claims appear obviously false, when it comes from a well-researched book by two respected American scholars it's easier for many in policy positions to swallow.
As Mearsheimer and Walt are neorealists, it didn't surprise me that they didn't entertain a one-state solution to the Occupation. While my personal views differ from theirs, I found their solutions to be quite well thought-out and preferable to the ongoing destruction and senseless murder that we are seeing in Palestine and around the Middle East. I hope more Jewish groups rise to accurately reflect the positions of the majority of Jewish Americans when it comes to US foreign policy; that is, that unconditional aid to Israel doesn't make anyone safer, and only inflames more violence.
Everyone always asks "why?" when confronted with the US's historical support for Israel. In the international system, it is truly second to none. This book not only answers that question with deft and humility, but it also has the power to introduce the reader to the realities and abilities of lobbyists in the United States. Unfortunately, this book was written in 2007, and not much seems to have gotten better. The Obama administration didn't make meaningful strides toward peace, the Trump administrations have only affirmed the Likud party even more, and Biden's failure to set proper red lines with Israel following October 7th cemented the recklessness of Netanyahu's policies. Citizen's United (2010) has made it nearly impossible for lobby reform, and the Supreme Court certainly hasn't swung in a left direction since.
It remains to be seen what happens in the world over the next few years as Trump 2.0 unfolds. I hope that encouraging others to read this book will contribute to progress, but we can only hope.
From two of the most respected IR theorists in the game, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy is a chronicle of the successful efforts made by American lobbyists to drive US foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. This, as Mearsheimer and Walt note, is to the detriment of the United States, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and even Israel itself. The book makes strong assertions which I didn't expect it to make before jumping in, such as the firm stance that pro-Israel lobbying was a "necessary but insufficient" cause of the Iraq War. Overall, while I don't completely agree with everything written in this book, I find it to be an extremely well-sourced account of the history of the American pro-Israel lobby and its detrimental impact for the millions of people either born or sent to fight in the Middle East.
In a twisted stroke of fate, I was in the middle of reading the chapter on Iran when Israel's strikes in Iran made headline news. Not only did this book equip me in real-time with important information on Iran's government and political history, but it also showed me that the excuses made for bombing (and invading) Iran have been the same for the last several decades. It seems neoconservatives were itching to Americanize Iran for their Pax Americana fever dream for a while now, and Israel's current government seized their opportunity when it got the chance. Trump's outlook on the Middle East indicates to Israel a green light for their ongoing land conquest and pursuit of hegemony in the region.
The authors dismantle common arguments and narratives, such as the notion that "Israel is America's greatest strategic ally" or that "Israel only acts in self-defense". While for most who are pro-Palestine these claims appear obviously false, when it comes from a well-researched book by two respected American scholars it's easier for many in policy positions to swallow.
As Mearsheimer and Walt are neorealists, it didn't surprise me that they didn't entertain a one-state solution to the Occupation. While my personal views differ from theirs, I found their solutions to be quite well thought-out and preferable to the ongoing destruction and senseless murder that we are seeing in Palestine and around the Middle East. I hope more Jewish groups rise to accurately reflect the positions of the majority of Jewish Americans when it comes to US foreign policy; that is, that unconditional aid to Israel doesn't make anyone safer, and only inflames more violence.
Everyone always asks "why?" when confronted with the US's historical support for Israel. In the international system, it is truly second to none. This book not only answers that question with deft and humility, but it also has the power to introduce the reader to the realities and abilities of lobbyists in the United States. Unfortunately, this book was written in 2007, and not much seems to have gotten better. The Obama administration didn't make meaningful strides toward peace, the Trump administrations have only affirmed the Likud party even more, and Biden's failure to set proper red lines with Israel following October 7th cemented the recklessness of Netanyahu's policies. Citizen's United (2010) has made it nearly impossible for lobby reform, and the Supreme Court certainly hasn't swung in a left direction since.
It remains to be seen what happens in the world over the next few years as Trump 2.0 unfolds. I hope that encouraging others to read this book will contribute to progress, but we can only hope.
January 20, 2011
Fantastic book, I could not recommend it any higher to a person who wants to learn about the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. The fact that it even exists and that it is known as 'The Israel Lobby' will upset many people, but Mearsheimer goes well out of his way to explain that there is, in fact, no such thing as an Israel Lobby. Instead, the book chronicles all of the reasons why the U.S. supports Israel so strongly and why it is a poisioned topic in the public forum. This book is entirely informational, and while it does offer some opinions, none of them are partisan or condeming. Seriously, read it and learn more about the dynamic of Isral and the US.
July 27, 2022
A comprehensive, well-structured and persuasive argument against 2007-level support for Israel that addresses various levels of this multidimensional problem, dealing with moral, historical and practical arguments in favour of support for Israel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 513 reviews