In the midst of Capitol Hill, exists an entity so powerful,
it can bring down whole governments, impeach presidents and justify war crimes.
No, I’m not talking about the Congress or the Senate, although to some extent
they probably do share some of the same capabilities. It’s the lobby, and more
importantly, it’s the Israel Lobby. The apparent link between Israel and
America has deep roots set as far back as the 1950’s when Israel first declared
itself a state. Nevertheless, no one has ever been bold enough to formally address
the fact that there exists a force within Capitol Hill which has the sole
interest of advancing Israel’s socioeconomic and political views. That was
until 2002 when John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt first coined the term and
used it as the title of their first working paper. The paper has had countless
revisions and was actually expanded into a book in 2007, but the authors have
stuck with the original argument.
I was actually referred to this paper after a discussion on
Israel’s involvement in Syria and their attacks on apparent “Islamist
Strongholds”. I was shocked that the UN and all the other world police forces
with acronymic names stayed quiet, but it wasn’t until I read this paper that I
really understood the power of the Israel Lobby on the world’s superpowers.
I’ve never been pro or anti, but this paper, like any well
written critique can change your opinion very quickly, so please be weary when
you read it. Nonetheless, they provide some solid evidence to show that the
special treatment of Israel is as unjustified as the Divine right of Kings. One
of the opening lines which shocked me the most, is the fact that Israel is the
only nation to receive aide which does not have to account for how the money is
spent. Even though this idea shocked me, my first response was that it served
some major geo political purpose for America, similar to how Pakistan had
served a geographic strong hold for the USA during a period when Communism
sweeping over Asia. Even then, Israel’s aide budget dwarfs the Pakistan aide budget
which was in the billions for many years until last year when Pakistan finally
demanded the FBI stop interfering in Pakistani politics. What makes this point
even more antagonising is the evidence that much of this aide has been spent on
“defence”, which includes a vehement nuclear warhead program. From the outset, Mearsheimer and Walt
breakdown the smoke and shadows used by the Israel lobby, and delve deep into
the workings of the well oiled machine. They even took time to discover private
emails which showed the Israel Lobby sending untoward letters to educational institutions
such as Colombia and petitioning against hiring Anti Israel lecturers and academics.
The fact that this so called Lobby has entrenched themselves as deep as the
educational institutions is somewhat worrying. I do not want to give away too many details
here, as some of the discoveries in the paper are truly eye-opening.
After reading some of these shocking revelations and
arguments, it seems that the relationship between Israel and America is characterised
by a scene from Of Mice and Men: Where George (Israel) is the brains behind the
operation and Lenny(America) is the braun.
The authors do make a solid case in terms of the Israel
lobby’s prevalent existence in shaping the way democracy is played out on
Capitol Hill but at times some of their arguments do seem a bit too
hypothetical and farfetched. One of these instances is when they regard the
Iraq war as a product of Israel’s pressure on the Bush administration and their
own ambitions of striking Iraq. Fair to say that Israel did feel uneasy with
Saddam on their door step, but I’m sure that the American war in Iraq had more
to do with Bush, Blair and Halliburton laying monetary legacies for themselves
rather than fulfilling an instruction of Israel.
Nevertheless, some other claims, like the fact that Israel
is virtually unaccountable to the UN or the Security Council, have
unfortunately been substantiated following the latest spate of bombings in
Syria by Israel.
Even if you are in no way interested in finding out if
Israel truly do control the United States, this paper will provide a vital
framework for you to discuss and understand the options Congress has whilst we
wait for a decision on their involvement in Syria. It also provides a concise
and through understanding of the entire conflict in the Middle East, so it’s
something you need to read. Links below:
By Viren Samani
(@VirenSamani1)
