The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy Reviews

• 
  Trevor

  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?
  
• 
  Clif

  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.
• 
  Ray

  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.
  
• 
  Budd Dwyer

  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.
• 
  Judith Spapens

  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?
• 
  Betul Pehlivanli

  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.
• 
  Hamza

  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.
• 
  corinne

  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?'
• 
  FAIZAN KHAN

  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.
• 
  Mucius Scaevola

  So powerful that you dare not speak its name.
• 
  Mostafa

  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 پرده‌ی 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.
• 
  Pospani Čitalac

  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.
• 
  Meg

  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.
• 
  Ina Cawl

  Hitler 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
• 
  David M

  On 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.
  
  
  
• 
  Zack the Ripper

  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.
• 
  Oleleho

  For those who want to know why US is always backing Israel for whatever it does.
• 
  Ciro

  Who controls US foreign policy?
• 
  Ramil Kazımov

  Orta Doğuda baş verenler hakkında benim bakışımı değistiren bir kitap oldu.. ABD-de yaşayan yahudilerin lobisi ABD-nin Orta Doğu politikalarını etkileyen en büyük güçtür. AİPAC, ZOA ve diğer yahudi lobi organizasyonları bu ülkenin politikalarını İsrail lehine etkiliyor, aslında hiç de ABD çıkarlarına hizmet etmeyen politikaların üretilmesini üstleniyorlar. Ayrıca, ABD-nin Orta Doğu-da neden olduğu bir çok yıkıcı yaklaşımın ve savaşın nedeni de yahudi lobisi. Bir misal vermek gerekirse, İranla anlaşmak ABD çıkarları için daha iyi bir politika olurdu ama maalesef israil lobisi ABD-nin İrana karşı agresif yaklaşım sergilemesine neden oluyor ve İranla iyi ilişkiler içeren tüm yaklaşımlara karşı çıkıyor. Kitapta bir çok ilginç fikir ve fakt varm Mesela, İsrail nükleer ve biyolojik silahlara sahip ve bu gibi silahların sınırlandırılmasını içeren tüm anlaşmalardan kaçınıyor (imzalamıyor). Filistinlilerin acılar çekmesine neden olan tüm politikadan ve yaklaşımdan İsrail ve onu savunan İsrail lobisi sorumludur. William Quandt ABD-nin Orta Doğu politikası ile ilgisi şunu demiştir: "ABD-nin Orta Doğu politikası İsrail'e verilen açık destekten başka bir şeyi içermiyor". Önemli İspan gazetesi El Pais şunları yazmıştır: "Eğer bir ülkenin gücü olayları etkilemesi ile ölçülüyorse, süpergüc olan ABD değil, İsrail'dir". Yazarlar lobinin İsrail politikalarını eleştirenleri karalama (defamation) kampanyasını da eleştiriyorlar. İsrail politikasını eleştirenleri anti-semitist olarak etiketlemek gerçekten gülünç bir yaklaşım. ABD-nin İsraile verdiği ve ihtiyaç olmadığı halde giderek artan mali desteğin de ABD için artık politik külfet haline geldiğini belirtiyorlar.
  
  Bu kitap ABD-nin Orta Doğu politikasını gerçek yüzü ile öğrenmek isteyen herkese tavsiye edilir
• 
  Jennifer

  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.
• 
  George McCombe

  Reading the ‘Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy’ is a rather dispiriting experience when one grasps how highly lauded it is by so many people. The central thesis of the book is that the ‘Israel Lobby’, a loosely connected and far-reaching group of high-movers and grassroot activists devoted to supporting Israel, yield a disproportionate influence on the United States Government, and use this influence to advance a hard-Right Israeli political agenda which is ultimately detrimental to the United States and the Middle-East. Do the authors prove this thesis? They inadvertently prove a great deal about the sloppy thinking of anti-Israel activists, but completely fail to justify their assertion that an ‘Israel Lobby’ has ‘created havoc in the Middle-East, damaged Israel itself and now threatens an even more perilous future’.
  
  Do the authors prove the basic existence of an ‘Israel Lobby’? Yes, proving that is easy enough. As the authors gracefully concede, the driving force behind democracy is the ability to lobby. Do the authors prove that this lobby has a disproportionate influence? No. Not unless democracy, popular activism and shared national interest are considered disproportionate factors. Like many other lobbies, it is undoubtedly influential, but the speed and ease with which Barak Obama and his administration offended and insulted Israel suggests it is not nearly as powerful as the authors make it out to be. Do they prove that the ‘Israel Lobby’ is detrimental to the United States and the Middle-East? No. Not unless one has a skewed view of what exactly is detrimental.
  
  The root of the problem is that the authors consistently fail to understand the nature of the conflict in the Middle-East. The issue is persistently presented to the reader as being as case of Israeli Nationalism against Palestinian underdogs who simply want their own separate homeland. At no point do the authors deal in any significant way with the issue of Islamic fundamentalism or deep-rooted anti-Semitism that dominate the ideology of the majority of Palestinians. Only by completely ignoring the intensity of ingrained hatred towards Jews—which existed long before Israel was created--can the authors portray the aspirations of Palestinians as being driven by positive and rational self-determination. Simply put, the authors refuse to accept that the contemporary Palestinian cause is hardwired with a profoundly anti-Semitic ideology that wants Israel and Jews to disappear.
  
  Blindness towards Islamic fanaticism turns into masochism when the authors seek to argue that support for Israel has made the USA susceptible to terrorism and contempt from the Arab world. They abysmally understate the problem of Islamic anti-Western hostility, minimizing centuries of Jihad, and assume that anti-Americanism would significantly diminish if it ceased to support Israel. This is ludicrous. As long as America continues to be bastion of liberal democracy it will be considered the ‘Great Satan’ by Islamists and their contemporary Marxist comrades. Nevertheless, even if it was the case that hostility towards America would diminish if it ceased its support of Israel, the idea that it should abandon a beleaguered ally to appease the wrath of enemies that oppose the values America cherishes is both absurd and profoundly immoral.
  
  The authors make an enormous deal about the accusations of anti-Semitism levelled at them and others who ‘expose’ the ‘Israel Lobby’. Whether this is true or not, it is obvious that they are disingenuous in their claims of simply wishing Israel to be treated like any other country. What other country would the authors expect to endure daily rocket attacks without a tough response? What other country would be expected to endure military backed threats to drive it into the sea or wipe it from the map/from the pages of time (dismissed by the authors as mere ‘rhetoric’) and not take it seriously? And why, if the authors believe—as they are keen to point out—that Israel has a right to exist, do they damn its every defensive actions as being ‘disproportionate’? What would be ‘proportionate’ is never defined, probably because the idea that a nation would downscale its military to ensure a ‘fair fight’ with its enemies is so obviously utter madness. The authors may accept the right of Israel to exist, but apparently only as long as it’s kept in its lowly Jewish place.
  
  ‘The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy’ is a book which presents a patently false and blinkered view of the Middle-East and its role in American politics. Whatever the credentials of Mearsheimer and Walt, they clearly do not understand the nature of Palestinian nationalism, the motivation for Jihadist terrorism or the hold Islamic fundamentalism has across the Arab and Persian world. By dismissing the fact that the enemies of Israel are also the enemies of America, they cannot understand why support for Israel is as strong as it is amongst politicians and grass-root American activists. The Israel Lobby exists because more people in the United States have a grasp on the reality of the Middle-East than Mearsheimer or Walt. Long may it last.
• 
  Lacey

  The colony does not control the empire—that is, the Zionist colony does not control U.S. Empire.
• 
  Michael Griswold

  There was something about the tone of the Israel Lobby book that kind of turned me off. The general premise is that the United States gives millions of dollars to Israel in aid and weapons systems at special discounted rates or lower than average interest rates as part of a special relationship between The Israeli Lobby and The United States government. According to the authors, this special relationship no longer makes sense for either the United States or Israel, given that Israel now has the most modern military and weapons systems in the Middle East and such generous direct support for Israel has not helped the United States in its standing within the Middle East such as Iran, Syria, Iraq, and the Palestinian conflict. At points throughout the book however, it seemed to read like a conspiracy novel when discussing the things the Israel Lobby has done like leading charges to get professors fired who are not the most sympathetic to Israel, or launching smear campaigns against politicians not sympathetic enough to Israel. As unappealing as it personally sounds don't most lobbying groups employ similar tactics? I agree that our position with Israel does not help our broader Middle East strategy, but i'm unsure about the tone the authors take towards The Israel Lobby.
• 
  Andrea

  The authors argue in this book that due to the influence of the Israel lobby on US politicians and the public, the United States supports Israel to a degree that is not commensurate with Israel's importance and which often works against the policies and priorities of the United States. They do NOT argue that Israel should not receive any support from the United States, nor do they argue against Israel's right to exist. They simply challenge the legitimacy of the arguments for supporting Israel unconditionally as has been the effective policy of the US government for many years. I picked up this book because I wanted to read solid arguments about this issue and I was not disappointed. I believe that the authors convincingly argued their case and I am confirmed in my opposition to unconditional support for the nation of Israel. I would like to read a book that examines the flawed theological basis on which many Christians unconditionally support Israel. This book is not it, although it does present some material about this.