Israel
/ Palestine: What will Obama do?
By Alison Weir
Whenever a US president begins a term of office many people round the world are curious about what policies he may pursue on Israel-Palestine. They wonder if he will once again call on Israel to reduce its settlement activities as almost every president has done at least once.
By Alison Weir
Whenever a US president begins a term of office many people round the world are curious about what policies he may pursue on Israel-Palestine. They wonder if he will once again call on Israel to reduce its settlement activities as almost every president has done at least once.
Will he
condemn
Israeli aggression, or only Palestinian rockets? Will he
push a “peace process” in which virtually all the American
mediators are Israel partisans[1] or will a few non-Zionists be
permitted to play a role?
As Barack
Obama began his second term as president, these questions came
up again. But these are the wrong questions. Instead, to predict
what he will do, one only needs to ask what the Israel lobby is
likely to require.
The
president won’t always do what the lobby demands – on rare
occasions he may deviate a bit from its dictates– but a large
percentage of the time he will dutifully do what the lobbyists
command.
In other
words, in order accurately to analyse American policies in the
Middle East, to predict how they will change or not and to
develop effective ways to revamp them in the directions that are
so urgently needed for humanitarian relief and real peace, it is
essential to understand the decisive role the Israel lobby plays
in the
United States.
Presidents
and politicians from both major parties have long been extremely
aware of this lobby. It may greatly improve or impede their
chances of winning an election, of passing legislation, of
receiving positive press coverage, of, quite simply, going on to
bigger and better things.
Through
the years the lobby for Israel has been a decisive factor in the
defeat of Republicans Paul Findley,
Pete McCloskey (at one time a Presidential contender) and
Charles Percy (another Presidential contender) and Democrats
Adlai Stevenson, William Fulbright, Earl Hilliard,
Cynthia McKinney and quite likely many more.[2]
Politicians from both parties attend the annual convention of
its major lobbying arm, the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and pledge
their loyalty to this foreign country.
President Barack Obama, whose early and major backing came
from members of the Israel lobby[3], gave his first
post-nomination speech at the AIPAC convention.
Yet,
despite the lobby’s inordinate power, most Americans are only
minimally aware of it. For decades surveys have shown that the
large majority of Americans don’t wish to take sides on
Israel-Palestine, a reflection of a public that is uninformed
about how much of our tax money goes to Israel and how
decisively our government is, indeed, taking a side.
This
widespread lack of awareness about the role of the Israel lobby
in determining American policies is particularly startling given
that the movement on behalf of Israel has been active in the
United States for over 100 years and that it played a
significant role in Israel’s creation.[4]
By the
1920s it was able successfully to promote its policies over
those recommended by the US State Department; by the 1940s it
had added Pentagon policies to those it could overrule and both
presidential candidates Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey were
currying its favour[5]; by 1967 it was able to push its cover
story on Israel’s lethal attack on the US naval ship Liberty
over opposition by high ranking admirals, the director of the
CIA and the Secretary of State[6]; and by 1977 the head of AIPAC
could state with accuracy: “We have never lost on a major
issue.”[7]
Half a
century ago the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigating lobbying
activities found an illicit cycle in which the Israel lobby
succeeded in procuring money for Israel, some of this was then
secretly funneled back into these groups, which then used this
money to lobby for still more American tax dollars to Israel.
The
hearings concluded that Israel operated “one of the most
effective networks of foreign influence” in the United
States.[8] Yet, since the media reported on this so little, most
Americans are unaware of these extremely grave findings.
The term
“Israel lobby” fails to do justice to the extraordinary scope
and composition of this special interest group. Below is a
small sampling of the American organisations that work on behalf
of Israel. Virtually all have multi-million dollar budgets; a
few have endowments in the hundreds of million dollars and most
of them are funded by tax-deductible donations:
-
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC): $100 million endowment, [9] $60 million annual revenues.[10]
-
The American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF): $26 million annual revenues.[11]
-
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP): $23.5 million net assets. $9.4 million annual revenues.
-
Anti-Defamation League (ADL): $115 million net assets,[12] $60 million annual revenues.[13]
-
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (aka Stand for Israel): $100 million annual revenues.[14]
-
The Israel Project: $11 million annual budget.[15]
-
Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces (FIDF): $80 million net assets,[16] $60 million annual revenues.[17]
-
Hadassah (Women’s Zionist Organization of America): $400 million net assets, $100 million annual revenues.
-
The Jim Joseph Foundation: $837 million net assets.[20]
-
The Avi Chai Foundation: $615 million total assets.[21]
-
Jewish Federations: $3 billion annual revenues.[22]
-
Jewish Community Relations Councils, in cities all over U.S.: Boston annual revenues $2.5 million; Louisville annual revenues $7-10 million; Detroit $734,000, New York $4.5 million, etc.[23]
-
Hillel: Over $26 million.[24]
-
JINSA Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs: $3 million annual revenues.
-
Center for Security Policy: $4 million annual revenues.[25]
-
Foreign Policy Initiative (PNAC 2.0): $1.5 million annual revenues.[26]
-
MEMRI Middle East Media Research Institute: $5.2 million.[27]
-
Birthright: $55 million.[28]
-
David Project: $4.4 million.[29]
-
CAMERA Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America: $3.5 million.[30]
In
addition to these nonprofit organisations, there are dozens of
political action committees (PACs) that donate to political
candidates on the basis of their positions on Israel. Most of
these disguise their purpose by using such deceptive names as
“Northern Californians for Good Government,” “National Action
Committee,” “American Principles,” etc.
While
other issue-based PACs almost always announce their focus
publicly[31], in 2012 only two of the pro-Israel PACs made any
reference to Israel in their names.[32] While US media
frequently discuss the gun rights lobby, the largely uncovered
pro-Israel PACs gave almost twice as much money to candidates –
and the donations went to both parties.[33]
In
addition, there are numerous individuals who play an extremely
important role in the Israel lobbying effort. Two examples are
political campaign mega-donors Haim Saban and Sheldon Adelson.
Saban donated $12.3 million to the Democratic Party in 2002
alone and has contributed millions more to pro-Israel
organisations.
Adelson, a
billionaire casino magnate, set a new record in political
donations by giving $70 million in the 2012 elections, nearly
triple the previous highest amount. He also funds such
pro-Israel organisations as Birthright Israel which takes
thousands of young Jewish Americans on recruiting visits to
Israel.
In other
cases, it is individuals with a different kind of power – the
power to affect which information reaches the American public
and which does not. One example is Eric Weider, whose Weider
History Group publishes eleven history magazines in the United
States, the largest history magazine publisher in America (and,
according to its website, the world).[34]
Given this
reality, President Obama’s actions are unlikely to stray outside
the parameters the Israel lobby is willing to accept. While the
media are making a great deal over the very mild apology Israel
made to Turkey for having murdered nine of its citizens,
crediting Obama with this alleged break-through, none of the
news reports seem to mention that Israel has largely failed to
apologise to the US for the death of 19-year-old dual American
Turkish citizen, Furgan Dogan, who was killed with five bullets,
one to his face at point blank range.[35]
It is also
relevant to note that an AIPAC-drafted letter signed by 76 out
of 100 Senators was sent to President Obama on the eve of his
visit to Israel in March.[36]
Congressional actions can also be expected to remain within what
the Israel lobby directs, though here, too, there may be rare
occasions where the lobby seems to have lost – such as the
confirmation of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defence.
However,
the alleged triumph that some pro-Palestinian writers are
proclaiming for Hagel’s appointment is a bit overblown. Before
he was allowed to take his position, he was made to grovel
humiliatingly before his Congressional interrogators, retract
acceptable statements he had made earlier in his life and all
but swear devotion to Israel (like all top government officials
seemingly must do).
This
degrading spectacle surely made it clear to Hagel that he better
watch his step in the future and made it even clearer to
ambitious Americans of all ages that they must be extremely
careful about any statements they make about Israel and its
lobby if they are to achieve their political ambitions.
Despite
the power of the lobby, however, the situation is not as bleak
as the above may suggest. There is a highly diverse movement in
the US that opposes this lobby and it is steadily growing.
The Left,
which for decades was largely silent on Israeli abuses of human
rights, has finally become active on the issue. Similarly, both
traditional conservatives and libertarians frequently oppose aid
to Israel and this opposition is becoming more outspoken. While
this stance is often motivated by fiscal considerations, in many
cases it is also fuelled by outrage at Israeli cruelty and by
genuine empathy with Palestinians.
The money
being mobilised on this side is only a small fraction of the
other and some of the groups within this movement could arguably
be considered simply a more reasonable and compassionate arm of
the Israel lobby in that their advocacy is often framed
according to what “is good for Israel” while failing to address
the inherent injustice of an ethnic state imposed on a
multicultural region.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the opposition to current
US policies is growing increasingly important. The tide may not
yet have turned but it is certainly in the slowing phase that
must come first.
To use
another oft-quoted and particularly apt metaphor, lobbies thrive
in the dark. More and more people in the US and elsewhere are
shining light on this one, steadily reducing its power.
While
there are numerous deeply significant issues, an increasing
number of individuals are deciding to focus on this one, the
core issue of the Middle East and the cause of war after war,
including the current “war on terror” and demonisation of
Muslims.
To use the
framing posed by journalist Glenn Greenwald, an expanding number
of people are refusing to prioritise domestic issues over the
killing of Arab and Muslim children on the other side of the
world.
Therefore,
despite the enormous power of the Israel lobby in the US, this
growing movement is quite likely to overcome the obstacles
confronting it and to join history’s other successful movements
against oppression.
The main
question is how long this will take, and how many more
massacres, and possibly wars, will occur in the interim.
[1]
Even Aaron David Miller admitted they acted as “Israel’s lawyer”
– Miller, Aaron David. “Israel’s Lawyer.” Washington Post
23 May 2005, posted by Matt Miller Opinion Writer. Online at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/AR2005052200883.html
[2]
Findley, Paul. They Dare to Speak Out: People and
Institutions Confront Israel’s Lobby. Westport, CT:
Lawrence Hill, 1985. Online at
http://archive.org/stream/They-Dare-To-Speak-Out-Paul-Findley/They_Dare_to_Speak_Out_Paul_Findley_djvu.txt
and Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen M. Walt. The Israel
Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. New York: Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 2007.
[3]
Yearwood, Pauline Dubkin. “Obama and the Jews.” Chicago
Jewish News 24 Oct. 2008.
Online at
http://www.chicagojewishnews.com/story.htm?sid=212226&id=252218
[4]
Weir, Alison. “Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History
of How the United States Was Used to Create Israel.”
IfAmericansKnew.org. 2012. Web.
http://ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/history.html
[5] Weir,
“Against Our Better Judgment”
[6]
http://www.ussliberty.org/supporters.htm
[7] The
Power Peddlers, by Russell Warren Howe and Sarah Hays Trott,
Doubleday, p. 292.
http://ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/history.html
[8]
Smith, Grant. “Where Did AIPAC Come From?” Antiwar.com.
N.p., 09 Oct. 2007. Web.
http://antiwar.com/orig/gsmith.php?articleid=11727 and Neff,
Donald. “Ulbright Called for U.S. Defense Pact With Israel But
Was Labeled Anti-Semite.” Washington Report on Middle East
Affairs August-September (1997): 96. Online at
http://www.wrmea.org/wrmea-archives/188-washington-report-archives-1994-1999/august-september-1997/2677-middle-east-history-it-happened-in-august-.html
[9]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/washington/25lobby.html?_r=1
In
2009, the Economist reported: “AIPAC has an annual budget of
around $60m, more than 275 employees, an endowment of over $130m
and a new $80m headquarters building on Capitol Hill.”
http://www.economist.com/node/14753768
[10]
http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/2012/03/08/aipac-still-commands-attention-among-movers-and-shakers/
[11]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3265
[12]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10657
[13]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10657
[14]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3889
[15]
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=ewJXKcOUJlIaG&b=7717007&ct=11735981#.UbKK4uuhU0o
[16]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3734
[17]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3734
[18]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7699
[19]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7699
[20]
http://www.faqs.org/tax-exempt/CA/Shimon-Ben-Joseph-Foundation-Dba-Jim-Joseph-Foundation.html
[21]
http://207.153.189.83/EINS/133252800/133252800_2010_07b9bf0d.PDF
[22]
http://www.jewishfederations.org/about-us.aspx
[23]
http://www.jewishlouisville.org/images/JCL/Financials/annual_report_2011-12.pdf
http://www.faqs.org/tax-exempt/MI/Jewish-Community-Relations-Council-Of-Metropolitan-Detroit.html#revenue_a
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10095
http://jcrcny.org/images/00_media/about/jcrc-ny2011form990.pdf
[24]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4540
[25] http://www.politico.com/static/PPM152_100828_centerforsecuritypolicy.html
[26]
https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2011_09_EO/26-4392915_990_201012.pdf
[27]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8188
[28]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11247
[29]
https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2011_02_EO/16-1616489_990_200912.pdf
[30]
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=5429
[31]
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.php?txt=Q11&cycle=2012
and
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.php?txt=Q13&cycle=2012
[32]
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.php?txt=Q05&cycle=2012
[33]
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/sector.php?cycle=2012&txt=Q05
[34]
Weir, Alison. “The Empire Behind World’s Largest History
Magazine Chain: How American History Magazine Censored
Palestine.” CounterPunch Dec. 6, 2012. Online at
http://ifamericansknew.org/media/weider.html
[35]
Lynch, Colum. “U.N. Panel Endorses Report Accusing Israel of
Executions aboard Aid Flotilla.” Washington Post 30
Sept. 2010, A Section. Online at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/29/AR2010092907110.html?wprss=rss_print/asection
[36]
“Did Your Favorite Progressive Senator Sign AIPAC Letter To
Obama Telling Him To Stand Up For Occupation? Here Is The List.”
MJ Rosenberg, Mar. 2013. Online at
http://mjayrosenberg.com/2013/03/19/did-your-favorite-progressive-senator-sign-aipac-letter-to-obama-telling-him-to-stand-up-for-occupation-here-is-the-list/
Alison
Weir is the President of
the Council for the National Interest (CNI) and Executive
Director of
If
Americans Knew.
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