Posted on 03/18/2006 10:39:55 PM PST by SmithL
A new study, claiming that the pro-Israel lobby in America caused the United States to skew its Middle East policy in favor of Israel, is stirring controversy in the pro and anti-Israel communities in the US.
The 81-page report, written by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, argues that the pro-Israel lobby in the US managed to convince American lawmakers, officials and US public opinion to support Israel, even though this support runs counter to America's own national interests.
"The overall thrust of US policy in the region is due almost entirely to US domestic politics, and especially to the activities of the 'Israel Lobby,'" the paper writes, adding that while other lobbies have tried to affect US foreign policy, "no lobby has managed to divert US foreign policy as far from what the American national interest would otherwise suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that US and Israeli interests are essentially identical." The academic paper, whose authors are well-known scholars in the fields of political science and government, sets out to dispute almost every argument of the pro-Israel activists in the US.
It argues that supporting Israel is not in America's best interest and furthermore, that it complicates the US's international stand and its ability to fight terror. "Israel is in fact a liability in the war on terror and the broader effort to deal with rogue states," the authors write, claiming that "The United States has a terrorism problem in good part because it is so closely allied with Israel, not the other way around." The paper also argues that the US would not be worried about Iran, Iraq and Syria, if not for its close ties with Israel.
The Harvard paper also argues that Israel is not a worthy ally for the US, that it is not a true democracy and that it uses torture methods that are against American values.
The main claim of the authors is that the powerful pro-Israel lobby in the US is the reason for a biased US foreign policy in the region that favors Israel. They point to The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)'s activity in Congress and in the executive branch and talk about how it allegedly "manipulates the media" and "polices academia" in order to make sure the US maintains a pro-Israel approach. The authors add that AIPAC also uses the claim of anti-Semitism, or "the great silencer" as they refer to it, to shut off any criticism of Israel.
The paper voices the claim that pro-Israeli officials in the Bush administration, namely Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser, were behind the push for war in Iraq and that the pro-Israel lobby was a driving force in encouraging the administration to go to war against Saddam Hussein.
The research has sparked instant controversy in the US. It was distributed over the weekend through several Web sites and list serves known for their anti-Israel approach and drew harsh criticism from pro-Israel activists.
An official with a pro-Israel organization in Washington said that the authors' disagreement "is not with America's pro-Israel lobby, but with the American people, who overwhelmingly support our relationship with Israel, and with Democrats and Republicans in successive administrations and Congress, who so strongly and consistently support the special relationship between the United States and Israel."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mearsheimer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_M._Walt (see also http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509251 )
To my lack-of-surprise, both these turkeys opposed the War in Iraq. Someone needs to check where these "scholars" are getting their dollars from.
The Jewish composition in the student body many ivy league colleges is quite high compared to their population overall in the US. Unfortunately many of them possess anti-Israel/US ideologies themselves to their own detriment and to Israel their only santuary in the world if the US (God forbid) becomes an anti-Jewish nation. Look at the names of many of the white leftist/anti US/Israel professors. Many of them are of Jewish descent. I do see one hope. Many American Jewish students are from liberal families, and they expected anti-Sematics would be white rightwing Christians. On the campuses they see anti-Sematism being expoused by black liberal professors and being silently supported by white liberal professors. To their surprise they see white Conservative Christian students protest the anti-Sematic remarks.
Somewhere warm and sunny, Larry Summers in smiling.
bump for later
> It would be easy enough to blow off these overpaid, anti-semitic fools in their ivory towers, except for the fact that they're indoctrinating our children. <
And for the fact that there's a large kernel of truth in what they say.
Leaving aside the argument of whether or not our wholesale support of Israel is or is not in our best interest, is there any doubt that American Jews have influence in American politics in great disproportion to their numbers? I'm not saying that's good or bad; it simply seems indisputable to me.
Bingo.
Martin Kramer: The Reality Behind Charges About "The Israel Lobby"
As an ally I believe Isreal is entitled to being under our security umbrella and is deserving of our political support up too a point, but the degree to which we coddle their ambitions running political interference for them and subsidizing their country in such a lavish and generous way is ridiculous. It's well past time they draw up permanent borders and quit pestering us for money.
The same could be said for the NEA, the Trial Lawyers Assoc. etc.
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A well reasoned and balanced statement. One that will be rejected by the Israel ping constituents once their primary spokespersons are made aware of this thread.
> The same could be said for the NEA, the Trial Lawyers Assoc. etc. <
Exactly. And we know that such narrow, interest group politics in almost all cases does not promote the adoption of policies in accordance with the best interests of the nation.
I feel that many people tend to allow their emotional attachments to Israel cloud their objectivity when examining this matter. Providing them with a few hundred million a year in military aid so they are able to defend themselves is one thing, subsidizing their economy to the tune of 3 to 5 billion a year is another. And to expect us to provide an additional $2 billion to assist them in their relocation of the Gaza settlers is the height of chutzpah...
Support for Isreal should have reasonable limitations. The same Americans that would kill the US to support Israel at all costs are the same people who think you can conquer 1.5 billion Muslims without having an ally among them.
All or nothing, black or white thinking has been known to be ineffective for the survival of the human species for like how many centuries now?
By all means support Israel but with your head and backside left intact.
If you are correct, then all lobbying should be banned. In fact, anything that leads to lobbying should be banned. That would include people getting together on internet sites, since that could lead to political demonstations. Oh, gee, I've participated in a number of Freeps, so that would meaning banning FR, wouldn't it. Hey, it looks like McCain-Feingold was just an inadequate beginning. Aren't political parties another form of lobbying? Let's ban them, too. Gee, now if we just appoint a dictator, we can dispense with the Republic altogether!
good point.
Thanks for the links.
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