The Israel Lobby

The Israel Lobby

The Israel Lobby - Video by Marije Meerman

For many years now the American foreign policy has been characterized by the strong tie between the United States and Israel. Does the United States in fact keep Israel on its feet? And how long will it continue to do so? In March 2006 the American political scientists John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Steve Walt (Harvard) published the controversial article 'The Israel Lobby and US foreign policy'. In it they state that it is not, or no longer, expedient for the US to support and protect present-day Israel. The documentary sheds light on both parties involved in the discussion: those who wish to maintain the strong tie between the US and Israel, and those who were critical of it and not infrequently became 'victims' of the lobby. The question arises to what extend the pro-Israel lobby ultimately determines the military and political importance of Israel itself. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Colin Powell's former chief-of-staff) explains how the lobby's influence affects the decision-making structure in the White House.
With political scientist John Mearsheimer, neocon Richard Perle, lobby organization AIPAC, televangelist John Hagee, historian Tony Judt, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth, colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Democrat Earl Hilliard, Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy and investigative journalist Michael Massing.

Research: William de Bruijn
Director: Marije Meerman

Michael Massing a contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review talks about "The Storm Over the Israel Lobby".

In the recent study "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy", the authors of the paper, Professor Stephen Walt of Harvard University and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, charge that the United States has willingly set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of Israel. In addition the study accuses the pro-Israeli lobby, particularly AIPAC of manipulating the U.S. media, policing academia and silencing critics of Israel by labeling them as anti-Semitic.

A new article in the New York Review of Books examines the controversial report and the reaction to it. It's called "The Storm Over the Israel Lobby." It was written by media critic Michael Massing, who joins Amy Goodman for the interview. Michael is a contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review and frequently writes for the New York Review of Books.

You can read the transcript of the interview at: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/24/1436205