There has been much ado about the latest J Street poll of American Jews. The most important finding, as noted in the survey analysis, is that “Jews want America to be much more aggressive in its Middle East peace efforts than it is today.” 87% of respondents said they supported the United States playing an […]
Israel lobby
Two myths about Charles Freeman and the Israel lobby
I’ve patiently tried to dissect who was responsible for the Charles Freeman fiasco and to discern what it portends for the Obama administration. Some commentary on the commentary: Myth #1: The “Israel lobby” and AIPAC per se were not behind the opposition to Freeman; it was just a bunch of loud neocons. AIPAC has publicly […]
Time for shameless self-promotion: advance blurbs on my book
Here are some advance reviews. Pretty cool, huh? “This is a brilliant study of two intriguing contradictions pertaining to the story of America’s Israel lobby. One is the contradiction between the reality and limits of Jewish power, on the one hand, and the popular perception of that power, on the other. Another has to do […]
Glimmers of hope for a sane American Middle East policy
After the carnage of the last few weeks, there are many compelling reasons to give up hope for an enduring peace settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. But there are shards of hope to be found in the Obama administration. Assuming, as I do, that a fair, evenhanded American approach to both conflict management and more […]
Will Obama reduce loan guarantees to Israel?
It seems that the U.S. is considering a plan to reduce $1 billion worth of loan guarantees to Israel, according to Ha’aretz. The decision will be left to Obama, and perhaps it will be part of a larger diplomatic package: The assessment now is that the Obama administration will weigh the political situation carefully before […]
Why Niebuhr, Obama’s favorite thinker, was a Zionist
After years of shamelessly pretending to know what Reinhold Niebuhr wrote and thought when his name came up in conversation, I have taken the trouble to start reading him for the first time. There are two reasons. One is that our President-elect has indicated that Niebuhr has had a profound effect on his thinking. Andrew […]
Philip Weiss attacks J Street. Why he’s wrong.
Philip Weiss and I have been communicating after he attacked J Street on MondoWeiss. A good many issues were broached, but one of his arguments is that J Street ought to be appealing to a much broader constituency than American Jews who feel some attachment to Israel. Some of his acolytes, true to form, said […]
Parsi: Israel would benefit from U.S. accommodation with Iran
Here is a bit of sanity and reason from Trita Parsi. It has been excerpted here and there, but the only way to do it justice is to cut and paste the entire piece from Foreign Policy. As I’ve noted before, there are perhaps 50 people in the world who have a sufficiently detailed understanding […]
Newsflash: AIPAC (probably) isn’t pushing for an attack on Iran
I have read even more drivel than usual about AIPAC in the blogosphere these days, and thought I would explain a few things to those who have never attended an AIPAC Policy Conference. First of all, AIPAC does not appear to be trying to prod the U.S. to bomb Iran. If it is, I have […]
Obama, AIPAC and why we need a Middle East peace lobby
Barack Obama had 7,000+ American Jews and non-Jewish friends of Israel eating out of his hand at the AIPAC Policy Conference yesterday morning. There was no political reason for him to disappoint Palestinians, the Arab world and the pro-Israel left by stating his commitment to an “undivided” Jerusalem. I have the highest hopes for this […]