The Israel Lobby

From two researchers from Harvard and Chicago University, a report on the Israel Lobby.

Though it is easy to dismiss talk of influence on the American government from foreign sources, especially with a country like Israel that we may inherently feel an ideological bond to, this paper does an excellent job of examining the United States foreign policy in the Middle East. The Middle East, as we know, has been a host to problems across the spectrum: corruption, violence, and zealotry have reigned supreme in the past fifty years. So in an arena marked by shades of greys, Mearsheimer & Walt do an excellent job of exposing how and why we have choosen our principle ally in the region.

By the numbers comes the greatest basis of support, right off the bat:

Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing that given to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct economic and military assistance since 1976, and is the largest recipient in total since World War Two, to the tune of well over $140 billion (in 2004 dollars). Israel receives about $3 billion in direct assistance each year, roughly one-fifth of the foreign aid budget, and worth about $500 a year for every Israeli. This largesse is especially striking since Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to that of South Korea or Spain.

The thrust of the paper actually comes two paragraphs in:

Instead, the thrust of US policy in the region derives almost entirely from domestic politics, and especially the activities of the ‘Israel Lobby’. Other special-interest groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed to divert it as far from what the national interest would suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that US interests and those of the other country – in this case, Israel – are essentially identical.

And at the end, a powerful message about the affect when a lobbying group becomes too strong for our own good:

There is a ray of hope, however. Although the Lobby remains a powerful force, the adverse effects of its influence are increasingly difficult to hide. Powerful states can maintain flawed policies for quite some time, but reality cannot be ignored for ever. What is needed is a candid discussion of the Lobby’s influence and a more open debate about US interests in this vital region. Israel’s well-being is one of those interests, but its continued occupation of the West Bank and its broader regional agenda are not. Open debate will expose the limits of the strategic and moral case for one-sided US support and could move the US to a position more consistent with its own national interest, with the interests of the other states in the region, and with Israel’s long-term interests as well.

There is a full, unedited version of this paper available at Harvard.