The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

TomF

There's a long, but interesting article by John L. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, titled "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" which can be downloaded in .pdf format from
http://tinyurl.com/rknsm

I believe it is from the London Review of Books but before that published, perhaps in condensed form, in Atlantic Monthly.

ChityWest

Well worth a read. Norman Finkelstein has been saying basically the same thing for years and even though he is jewish himself he routinely gets called anti-semitic too.

Update today - this just cropped up on the washington post site - it outlines the criticism of the authors for writing the above paper and how they destroyed their reputations - etc

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040201039.html?nav=rss_world

TomF

Apparently the article has been around the world and back and has stirred-up a hornet's nest in the U.S. although reaction on this board is strangely muted. A good report on reaction the article appears in Nation magazine, and can be read at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060515/weiss

ChityWest

I did mention it here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054917254&page=4

briefly I agree its a very good article and absolutely no surprise that the israeli lobby /pro-israel pressure groups have proclaimed the authors to be anti-semitic and not to be trusted.

I believe that alan dershowitz has also written a 45 page - make that a "45-page (with 157 footnotes)"

( http://jpundit.typepad.com/jci/2006/04/dershowitzs_res.html )

response to the article which questions the authors motivations. To my eyes the backlash/slurs/defamations all confirm the contents of the article.

TheVan

I read about this in the Irish Times at the weekend. It sounded fascinating and I just downloaded it. Will read it when blasted exams are finished!

I'd love to see what Charles Krauthammer (I think that's his name?....in Irish Times as an opinion column, replaced Mark Steyn) had to say about it!

Parsley

"Marvin Kalb, a senior fellow at the Kennedy School, said the report was filled with errors, not least the assertion that Israeli forces were better armed and positioned than the Arab armies in the 1947-1948 war."

That's a quote by one of the article's critics, taken from the Washington Post article linked to above. Well he's wrong.
In the 1948 war against Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq the Israeli army fielded 45,000 men while the combined arab countries had 27,000. Neither had much equipment cos they were only just independent. By the end of the war the Israelis had 140,000 more men and loads more equipment and funds while the Arabs were unchanged. It was the Isralei goliath versus the arab David...

I'm fed up of anti-Zionists being called anti-Semitic. And calling anti-Zionist Jews anti-Semitic is the stupidest thing i've ever heard!

TomF

A reply to critics by the authors of the original article on The Israel Lobby can be read in the letters section of the London Review of Books at:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/letters.php

Sand

Its a good article, and a good defence of the article. It basically just calls a spade as a spade. Its realpolitick. The US patronage of Israel is not a mutually benefical arrangement, in terms of states at least. It does go against what should be the prime US interest in the region - oil. Europe is relatively free of commitments to Israel and has a better *political* relationship with the main oil producers than the US does. The US doesnt need to completely abandon Israel but it does need to start asking "What can you do for us?"

ChityWest

Any americans I have spoken to on this subject seem to have a total blindspot when it comes to israel and its treatment of the palestinians.

I think some parts of the US media are under intense scrutiny and get barraged with complaints at the slightest hint of criticism of israel - which doesnt help. The response to the original article I think is a good sign of whats in store to anyone (especially american academics) in america who criticise israel. And yes - I also think it is insane to call jewish people anti-semitic when they are simply making valid (or at least what they see as valid) criticism of certain actions or policies of the israeli regime.

I think many pro-israel supporters (not all) are motivated by religon and this can lead to fervent behaviour - and also vicious criticism of anyone who dares to question it's (israel's) actions.

catmaixumsXXII

any reliable, non biased internet links to the history of the palestine/israel conflict? all sites that ive come across v.detailed also question their reliability. personally disgusted at my lack of knowledge into the entire region. any books/sites/discussion to reccomend would be appreciated....

Manic Moran

Welcome to American Politics. The Special Interest Lobbies always seem to have sway far in excess of their size. It's not just the Israeli lobby.

NTM

New_Departure06

I agree the pro-Israel lobby does control US foreign policy. The result is that the Muslim and especially Arab world increasingly hate the US and Israel in particular and the West in general, placing us all at risk to some degree. Hopefully people over there will wake up from the Political-Correctness that makes it near impossible to criticise Israel in the US without being called an anti-semite. However I think that those most openly critical of Israel need to examine whether they do engage in this kind of political-correctness with regards to topics like immigration.

Hobbes

Manic Moran wrote:

Welcome to American Politics. The Special Interest Lobbies always seem to have sway far in excess of their size. It's not just the Israeli lobby.

NTM

Exactly. Its an interesting read but no way they are calling all the shots.