The Israel Lobby

The London Review of Books is carrying an excerpt of a controversial new paper by American Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt - The Israel Lobby. Mearsheimer (U. of Chicago) and Walt (Harvard) argue that a coalition of disproportionately powerful American Jewish lobbying firms, think tanks, media firms, and wealthy individuals, some with stronger allegiance to Israel than America, have co-opted American foreign policy with respect to the Middle East to the detriment of American national security. The Jewish community's response to the paper has been swift and thorough; prominent writers, scholars, and Jewish organizations have all posted rebuttals.

I find this piece interesting not because it's well written, it isn't, but because of the scarcity of mainstream research and opinion critical to Israel. To merely speak of an Israeli lobby almost reflectively draws charges of anti-semitism, charges the writers claim are used to control the public discourse away from critical analysis. The fact that actual anti-semites have praised the paper does nothing to further the discussion.

Modern political discourse and freedom of speech require us to treat no topics as off limits, regardless of whose sensibilities are offended, so I hope baseless charges of anti-semitism don't derail further analysis and discussion of the issues Mearsheimer and Walt raise. Unfortunately for them - and it's really quite baffling to understand - they've presented a paper that falls short of the standards of research and analysis required to make a convincing argument about such a complex and multifaceted subject.