The Pro-Israel Lobby

While by no means the sole reason for unwavering U.S. support for Israel, aggressive lobbying, campaign financing, and media pressure by pro-Israeli groups are undoubtedly a significant factor. The following articles deal with the influence of this special interest group on U.S. foreign policy and the U.S. public debate.

• Center for Responsive Politics, "Pro-Israel and Pro-Arab Interests: The Money," April 24, 2002
  "Pro-Israel interests are a fixture in American politics. Fortune magazine ranks the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as the 4th most powerful lobby group in the country. Pro-Israel interests have contributed $41.3 million to federal candidates and parties since 1990 -- over 2/3 of it to Democrats."
• Michael Lind, "Distorting U.S. Foreign Policy: The Israel Lobby and American Power," Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May 2002, pp. 26-31
  "A debate over the goals and methods of American policy in the Middle East is long overdue. Unfortunately, an uninhibited debate is not taking place, because of the disproportionate influence of the Israel lobby. The lobby is not all-powerful, but it is still far too powerful for the good of the United States."
• Robert Friedman, "Selling Israel to America," Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Summer, 1987), pp. 169-179
  "Many mainstream journalists who have tried to defy the pro-Israel orthodoxy have come under unrelenting attack from the Israel lobby -- a coalition of editors and publishers, PACs, and wealthy businessmen -- which tries to silence dissidents with accusations of anti-Israel bias or anti-Semitism."
• Jason Vest, "The Men from JINSA and CSP," The Nation, August 15, 2002
  "In recent years, dozens of members of the hard-line Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and the Center for Security Policy have ascended to powerful government posts. In supporting the Israeli right, they effectively hold that there is no difference between U.S. and Israeli national security interests."
• Joel Beinin, "Money, Media and Policy Consensus: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy," Middle East Report, No. 180, January-February 1993, pp. 10-15
  "When the Bush administration came to office in 1989, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy was the nongovernmental organization with the greatest influence over U.S. Middle East policy. It operates an effectively targeted spin machine focused on the central goal of promoting the U.S. strategic relationship with Israel."
• Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, "Pro-Israel PAC Contributions to 2000 Congressional Candidates"
  (List of all Senators and Representatives who participated in the 2000 elections and how much they received from pro-Israel political action committees. Includes "career totals" since 1978.)