the Israel Lobby

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

Foreign Policy in Focus (online at:http://www.fpif.org/) is pleased to
announce the publication of

The Israeli Lobby—How Powerful is it Really?

This FPIF Special Report by Stephen Zunes argues that the Israeli
Lobby is most powerful when its interests parallel "the interests of
those who really hold power in Washington." Zunes, an internationally
renowned expert on U.S. policy in the Middle East, argues that the
analysis by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt of "The Israeli Lobby"
is faulty and misleading.

In this major contribution to the debate about U.S. policy in the
Middle East, Zunes contends that "this is primarily an issue of the
Israel lobby working at the behest of U.S. foreign policymakers, not
U.S. foreign policymakers working at the behest of the Israel lobby."

According to Zunes, the authors' essay in the London Review of Books
in March "has been met by unreasonable criticism from a wide range of
rightist apologists for U.S. support of the Israeli occupation" and
"has garnered unreasonable praise from many in progressive circles."

The FPIF Special Report makes the case that although "critiques in
establishment circles of the bipartisan U.S. support for the Israeli
occupation are unusual and welcome, progressive promoters of this
article have largely failed to assess the ideological agenda of its
authors and the validity of their specific arguments." Zunes describes
Mearsheimer and Walt as "prominent figures in the realist school of
international relations, which discounts international law, human
rights, and other legal and moral concerns in foreign policy."

"Washington wants a Middle East where Israel can serve a proxy role in
projecting U.S. military and economic interests," writes Zunes, "This
symbiosis requires suppressing challenges to American-Israeli hegemony
within the region."

See full FPIF report online at:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3270

With printer-friendly pdf version at:
http://www.fpif.org/pdf/papers/0605lobby.pdf

--
Jim Devine / "These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in
concert, to fleece the people." -- Abraham Lincoln  (attributed)