The Israeli Lobby and the U.S. Response to the War in Lebanon

Abstract

On 28 August 2006, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sponsored a panel discussion on “The Israeli Lobby and the U.S. Response to the War in Lebanon” at the National Press Club, Washington, DC. Stephen Walt (Kennedy School of Government, Harvard) and John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago), authors of the controversial article “The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” were featured. The panel began with opening remarks by Corey Saylor (government affairs director, CAIR) and Nihad Awad (executive director, CAIR). Awad discussed the war in Lebanon and the situation in Gaza, described Israel’s dropping of cluster bombs on civilian Lebanese towns, quoted a Human Rights Watch report that states Israel does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, as well as an Amnesty International report describing Israeli actions in Lebanon as war crimes. He concluded: “Our one-sided support for Israel is a liability in the war on terror. It has turned much of the world, including our European allies, against us.” Stephen Walt summarized the main arguments of his research article with John Mearsheimer. Among them are that comprehending the recent war in Lebanon requires an understanding of the pro-Israel groups’ political power in the United States; that the Israeli lobby’s influence has led to policies that are not in the United States’ national interest, or in those of the region’s countries, including Israel; and that $3 billion of American taxpayers’ money is given unconditionally to a wealthy industrial nation. He quoted former American negotiator Aaron Miller’s remark that the United States acted as Israeli’s lawyer during Oslo and has been even more onesided under President Bush ...