Challenge over Zionist Lobby in US

MANY analysts believe that the Zionist lobby has a considerable power in the US and the lobby determines Washington's foreign policy.

In an article titled US storm over book on Israel lobby that has been published by the BBC, Henri Astier, writes that commentators the world over refer to it, as though it were a well-established fact that US Jews wield far more influence than their numbers (2% of the population) would suggest.

“How does the lobby work? Is its power truly legendary, or just a legend? Two US academics, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard, have set out to answer those questions, and triggered a firestorm of controversy as a result,” it added.

Their book The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, which builds on a 2006 article in the London Review of Books, says the reasons for US support for Israel need to be explained.

America spends $3 billion a year in largely military assistance - one-sixth of its direct aid budget - to help a prosperous, nuclear-armed country, and strongly backs Israel in negotiations on Middle East peace.

But according to Mearsheimer and Walt, the US gets remarkably little in return. They reject the argument that Israel is a key ally in America's 'war on terror'.

It is indeed a vibrant democracy, they say, but also a regional giant ready to use its considerable firepower against civilians. If both these arguments are weak, they say, the real reason behind US support for Israel is domestic - the activities of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and like-minded groups and think tanks.

Mearsheimer and Walt do not talk of a 'Jewish lobby', as these groups do not speak for all US Jews and include many non-Jews, but of an 'Israel lobby', whose main aim, they say, is to convince America that its interests are aligned with those of Israel.

The book analyses the lobby's sources of influence - notably its financial muscle and the reluctance of critics to speak out. Like other interest groups, the Israel lobby also influences debate by rounding on politicians and commentators who take positions it does not like - but it does it particularly effectively, according to Mearsheimer and Walt.

Those who might think of questioning US support for Israel know they are in for a fight, making it more trouble than it is worth. The resulting lack of discussion, the book says, has skewed US policies across the Middle East.

Most controversially, the book argues that the lobby played an important role in the Iraq war.

Virtually all reviews of the book in the mainstream US press have been negative.

The authors regard their excoriation in the US press as a sign of the lobby's effectiveness, and point out that reviews abroad have been much more favorable.

Mearsheimer and Walt cite cases of members of Congress losing their seats after running afoul of pro-Israeli groups which then bankrolled their opponents.

Tony Judt - a prominent historian and critic of Israel - credits Mearsheimer and Walt's efforts to lift a taboo, saying the main effect of the lobby has been self-censorship.

Judt himself is not afraid to speak out, but he has to tread more carefully when he criticizes Israeli policies in the US than he does in Israel itself.

In this context, Judt asserts that Mearsheimer and Walt's book is an "enormous act of intellectual courage. They gained nothing from it, but the community has really gained something because with each little step like that, the conversation opens up a bit more".