The Israel "Lobby"

A recent incident involving Charles (Chas) Freeman has provoked the anti-Israel crowd. The background facts are these. Charles Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and diplomat, was President Obama's choice for the position of Chair of the National Intelligence Council. According to its website, the NIC is a center for "strategic thinking within the U.S. Government" and provides the President with "analyses of foreign policy issues" etc. News of Charles Freeman's pending appointment provoked opposition. Critics of the appointment were concerned that past statements made by Freeman concerning Israel's treatment of Palestinians and China's Tiananmen Square massacre, as well as his past ties with the China National Offshore Oil Co., and a Middle East think tank funded in part by Saudi Arabia, made Freeman a poor choice for the position. This week Freeman withdrew his candidacy for the position and the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, accepted the withdrawal.

End of story? Not quite. The episode, which has been hotly debated in the blogosphere, is to some yet another example of the undue power and influence of the nefarious Israel "Lobby". Charles Freeman himself blamed the "Lobby" for his decision to withdraw. The Lobby, according to Freeman, is "intent on enforcing the will and interests of a foreign government" in opposition to the best interests of the United States. This is of course a common refrain, popularized by such writers as Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, who wrote the book "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy".

It is not my intent in this posting to comment on the choice of Freeman to head up the NIC, his decision to withdraw, the strength of the reasons for the opposition to the appointment, or the wisdom of the administration's decision to accept the withdrawal. What I do want to comment on is this whole notion that there is a powerful Israel Lobby out there which has distorted US foreign policy and has somehow forced the electorate and their governments to make stupid decisions which are contrary to their own best interests.

The fact that there are interested individuals and associations which attempt to persuade their governments to adopt policies, whether they be domestic or foreign, which they support and advocate, is a good thing. It is called democracy. It is what people do in free societies. It is normal. By calling it a "Lobby", with a capital L, is to attempt to convert a normal, accepted, good idea into some sort of nefarious conspiracy. There is no secret "Lobby" at work here with spooky music in the background. Those who advocate for Israel and for the United States' support of it do so openly and strongly. Other "Lobbyists" do the same thing with respect to the policies which they believe in. Good, I say.

Secondly, the theory that this pro-Israel "Lobby" is so powerful that it can somehow trick the electorate into democratically voting for governments who will not act in their country's best interests, but in the interests of a "foreign" government, is incredibly naive and presumptuous on the part of the persons who push it. More seriously, it is unbelievably dismissive and insulting of the electorate themselves. The governments of Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Western Europe, among others, are all strong supporters and allies of Israel. The populations of these countries know this in advance of elections but yet still vote these governments into power, election after election. Why? Why would they vote for governments who do not, according to the Freemans of this world, act in the best interests of their own countries, but bend to the will of a foreign government? Is the electorate too stupid to realize who and what they are voting for? Have these poor, ignorant rubes been duped by the "Lobby"? Or is it just that the populations of these countries have intelligently judged these matters and actually support their governments' allegiances to the State of Israel? Is it that the "Lobby" is so powerful, or is it that the "Lobby" actually promotes the same principles and goals that the majority of the electorate stand for? If the latter is true, the Freemans, Mearsheimers and Walts of the world would be better off aiming their guns at their fellow citizens rather than at some devious "Lobby".

The same point could be made of the elected officials themselves. Are they too stupid to realize that they have been taken in by the "Lobby" and are not acting in the best interests of their countries, as they are sworn to do? Has the "Lobby" duped them as well? Or is it that they are actually acting in the best interests of their countries and are carrying out the policies and principles that they and their electorates believe in? The preposterous presumptuousness displayed by Freeman, Mearsheimer and Walt that they alone have discovered the "truth" about Israel and the Lobby, and only they have been able to avoid its power and influence, while everyone around them has lost their heads, is offensive.

One final point. Yes there is an Israel lobby that supports the State of Israel. But it is miniscule compared to the Anti-Israel Lobby which wishes the state harm. When you consider the contempt displayed for Israel and even the expressed wish to see it destroyed as a Jewish state by countries such as Iran, much of the Arab world, the so-called non-aligned countries, many of the countries in the United Nations, many of the attendees at the Durban-type conferences, and other states ruled by dictators, the size of the global Anti-Israel Lobby dwarfs that of the Israel Lobby which Freeman, Mearsheimer and Walt rail against. We all to some degree belong to one "lobby" or the other. Which one do you choose Ambassador Freeman?