The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

An outgrowth of an essay originally published in the London Review of Books by academics John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is one of the most provocative and controversial foreign policy books of recent times. The authors' basic premise is that the United States' level of commitment to the State of Israel cannot be justified either on strategic or moral terms, and is damaging both to American interests and Israel's long-term security. Their work developed over several years, after they were commissioned to write a feature by the Atlantic Monthly.

They regard the Israel Lobby as not a rigidly structured organization, but a collection of individuals and interest groups, both in the US and Israel. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is the most politically influential group in the US, but it is not alone. It is by no means a Jewish phenomenon; Christian Zionism is an influential movement in the United States, and there are Jews both in Israel and the US that do not see the current bilateral relationship as ideal. There are other aspects throughout the Middle East, especially with respect to Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.