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Allegations of antisemitism

In 2011, John Mearsheimer wrote a back-cover blurb for controversial author Gilad Atzmon’s book The Wandering Who? A Study of Jewish Identity Politics: “Gilad Atzmon has written a fascinating and provocative book on Jewish identity in the modern world. He shows how assimilation and liberalism are making it increasingly difficult for Jews in the Diaspora to maintain a powerful sense of their ‘Jewishness.’ Panicked Jewish leaders, he argues, have turned to Zionism (blind loyalty to Israel) and scaremongering (the threat of another Holocaust) to keep the tribe united and distinct from the surrounding goyim. As Atzmon’s own case demonstrates, this strategy is not working and is causing many Jews great anguish. The Wandering Who? should be widely read by Jews and non-Jews alike.”[45]

Mearsheimer’s endorsement of Atzmon’s book was met with accusations of antisemitism by prominent Jewish writers and intellectuals. Alan Dershowitz wrote an article in response, “Why are John Mearsheimer and Richard Falk Endorsing a Blatantly Anti-Semitic Book?” It stated that the book “argues that Jews seek to control the world.”[46]

Mearsheimer denied the charges of antisemitism in that he had “no reason to amend it or embellish” his blurb[47] and defended his position. Writing in regard to the charge by Goldberg that Atzmon is antisemitic and, by implication, so is his positive review of Atzmon’s book, Mearsheimer responded: “Atzmon’s basic point is that Jews often talk in universalistic terms, but many of them think and act in particularistic terms. One might say they talk like liberals but act like nationalists.... It is in this context that he discusses what he calls the ‘Holocaust religion,’ Zionism, and Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Again, to be perfectly clear, he has no animus toward Judaism as a religion or with individuals who are Jewish by birth.”[45]