2015 Introduction

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs readers who missed the “The Israel Lobby: Is it Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?” conference asked us to put the highlights of the April 10, 2015 gathering into an article for our next issue. 

We tried—but discovered that all the presentations were highlights!

Conference organizers the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy and the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report, asked carefully selected speakers to give 18-minute talks, the length of a “Ted Talk,” and, frankly, their remarks blew us away. 

Many of our panelists spent a lifetime studying the pro-Israel Lobby. Others ran into the power of the Lobby accidentally as they worked on Capitol Hill, at the State Department or at the U.N. Some, especially students, were taken aback to discover its power in preventing their free speech on college campuses. A number of speakers who grew up proud of their Jewish heritage said they became deeply disillusioned by a Lobby that does not represent their views. Israelis told the audience that the Lobby was also damaging their country. 

This is a conversation most Americans avoid, even those who care deeply about Israel’s influence on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. No one wants to be accused of anti-Semitism, and that’s just what happens to those who “dare to speak out” or even to question Israel’s Lobby or actions on behalf of a foreign country. 

As one of our speakers emphasized, Israel is not a religion. It’s not a race. It’s a country. And it’s OK—it’s not anti-Semitic— to talk about and even criticize a country we support financially and diplomatically.

Our speakers helped to shine a light on the Lobby’s activities because, as M.J. Rosenberg noted during his talk, “The Israel Lobby thrives in the dark and shrivels in the sunlight.” 

But that light was too hot for U.S. corporate media, which won’t touch the topic with a 10-foot pole.

America’s press decided to continue to keep citizens in the dark and not mention a word about this groundbreaking discussion of the Lobby. After spending days covering the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s conference and its push for war on Iran, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s controversial speech before Congress, and Israel’s elections—there was not one sound bite from this conference. 

One of the only stories about the event to make it into print was written by speaker Gideon Levy—about whom Rosenberg said, “If Gideon Levy worked in the United States, the Lobby would have him fired. There is no question about that”—and published April 12 in his Israeli daily Haaretz. Levy’s headline was hopeful: “The Beginning of the American Spring.” He pointed out, “This was not the Saban Forum, nor the AIPAC Policy Conference: This was the other America.”

Levy concluded, “Is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship, in which the United States will finally dare to criticize and put pressure on Israel? It’s too soon to tell. In the meantime, the American Spring is making the cherry trees bloom….”

The American Spring won’t take place until its citizens begin to have frank discussions about the unchecked power of lobbies, including the Israel Lobby. 

As you read these game-changing talks, we hope you’ll begin to hold some conversations of your own, so that, together, we can usher in the American Spring. 

For more information, or to watch these presentations, please visit <www.IsraelLobbyUS.org> or purchase a DVD (see p. 43) from MiddleEastBooks.com.

We’re determined to build on the momentum of this year’s conference and spread the word to more and more Americans. We hope you’ll join us!