extends deep into the u.s. political system

Harvard to Remove Its Logo and Distance Itself From Pro-Israel Lobby
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

WASHINGTON, 29 March 2006 — Following the fury detonated by two eminent professors who challenged the value of the pro-Israel lobby’s impact on American foreign policy, Harvard University said it will remove its logo from the study in order to distance itself from the paper’s conclusions.

Professor Stephen Walt, the academic dean of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Professor John Mearsheimer, a top international relations theorist at the University of Chicago, the authors of the controversial study, kicked up a storm in academic and political circles with their 83-page paper, called “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy,” published last week.

They argue that the “unwavering support” of the US for Israel cannot be justified on strategic or moral grounds and is a result of a powerful and pernicious “lobby.” Both men charge that American foreign policy has been subordinate to Israeli interests and accused the pro-Israel lobby of responsibility for America’s invasion of Iraq.

Part of that lobbying influence, they claim, extends deep into the US political system, namely Washington think tanks – not only the neoconservative and right-wing institutions, but also liberal ones.

The head of the liberal Brookings Institute forcefully rejected their claims that his prestigious Washington think-tank was part of the “pro-Israel chorus.” Officials at Jewish organizations are said to be furious.

The report — versions of which appear on the Kennedy School Web site and in the March 26 issue of the London Review of Books — describes “the Israel lobby” as a “loose coalition” of politicians, media outlets, research institutions, Jewish groups and Evangelical Christians that steers America’s Middle East policy in directions beneficial to Israel, even if it requires harming American interests.

The report appears to have caused little mention in the mainstream press. “Several editors, foreign affairs reporters and columnists for major American newspapers contacted by The Forward did not know about the study.

They didn’t sound especially interested when told about the report’s findings,” noted the New York Jewish newspaper, The Forward.

The Forward said Jewish organizations are holding fire in order to avoid generating publicity for their critics.

But behind the scenes, pro-Israel activists are planning a briefing for congressional staffers to be held Thursday. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are also considering releasing a letter in response to the new paper, congressional staffers said.

“The truth is that this really wouldn’t be worth spending any time discussing if not for the fact of where these people are located and what their reputations are,” said Ken Jacobson, associate national director of the Anti-Defamation League told reporters.

He said the paper contains no new revelations or insights, is riddled with factual errors and makes arguments that the ADL is accustomed to dealing with from extremists on the margins of America’s political arena.

Jacobson said that he had prepared a rebuttal to the study, but for the time being it is only being used for internal ADL purposes.

“In these kinds of things you’re always trying to debate how important will it be in terms of the impact, if you give it more attention,” he said. “The amount of attention we will give it will depend on how it plays out” in the public domain.

additional information: Israel Lobby driving US foreign policy