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There Is No Israel Lobby

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Clarissa

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Finally, somebody is saying this:

The “omnipotent Israel lobby” is one of the hoariest chestnuts of political commentary, but maybe this news will remind people of a few basic facts about American politics. When “pro-Israel” policies are popular, as they usually are, lobbies that advocate for them appear unstoppable. But when the Israel lobby gets on the wrong side of public opinion, the magic goes away.

The need to believe that a tiny country that would not be able to survive for 10 minutes without a constant financial, military and political backing from the US exercises complete control over US politics is in no way different from the belief in a Masonic-Jewish conspiracy that secretly rules the world.

11 responses to “There Is No Israel Lobby”

  1. Titfortat Avatar
    Titfortat

    You do realize that the Evangelical view of Israel is very important to their prophetic ideas of heaven and Jesus. There might be a deeper connection than you think, regardless of the size Israel.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      “You do realize that the Evangelical view of Israel is very important to their prophetic ideas of heaven and Jesus. ”

      – Yes, I know there is some massive craziness going on in this connection but I’m not aware of the details.

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  2. David Bellamy Avatar
    David Bellamy

    I don’t know many details, either, but the belief that there is a Biblical prophesy that Jews will return to Israel and rebuild the Temple before the Second Coming of Jesus is a critical part of it. I was a child when the state of Israel was formed, and in the church environment I grew up in, most people viewed this as a sign that the second coming was on schedule, or would happen soon. Of course, a lot of people thought it would happen around the year 2000, since somewhere in the Old Testament it is written that to God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. Thus, after the Creation 6000 years (6 days) ago, it would be the Sabbath, and God would rest, as he commanded people to do. To rest, he would, of course, have to imprison Satan so as not to have any annoyances involving work. This involved the second coming (which I cannot bring myself to capitalize again.) Of course, there were pre-millenials who believed that the second coming would be before the millenium when God rested, and post-millenials who believed that the second coming would be after this millenium (day) when God rested. I am, fortunately, not in the loop anymore; maybe the post-millenials are now more numerous than the premillenials. (My grammar may be off a bit. Premillenialism and Postmillenialism are competing doctrines. I may have inadvertantly coined words for the followers of these doctrines.)

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I don’t know how to say this politely and inoffensively but the kind of thinking you have described does not give an impression of robust mental health and / or normal level of intelligence.

      “Of course, a lot of people thought it would happen around the year 2000, since somewhere in the Old Testament it is written that to God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. Thus, after the Creation 6000 years (6 days) ago, it would be the Sabbath, and God would rest, as he commanded people to do”

      – This is one of the most bizarre things I have ever heard.

      Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s important not to remain ignorant to what many people believe, as weird as it might sound.

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  3. Titfortat Avatar
    Titfortat

    So just imagine if an Evangelical got in power in the States or Canada. Oh, wait, they did. Bush and Harper. Do you think a Jewish lobby group might have the ear of either one of those guys, you betcha! Obama may not be an Evangelical but there still are a whole lot of them floating around Washington these days. 😉

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Bush was a sad little figurehead. It is a mistake to believe that this illiterate fellow actually decided anything. he was told what to do by powerful financial interests that have no ethnicity or religion.

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  4. Z Avatar
    Z

    And yet, what does AIPAC do if not advocate for Israel (and from my p.o.v., certain currents within Israel)? It calls itself “America’s pro-Israel lobby.”

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Sure it advocates but it has no real influence. The US does what benefits the US.

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      1. J. Otto Pohl Avatar
        J. Otto Pohl

        No, US politicians do what benefit themselves and that often in places like NYC or California means supporting the interests of the government of Israel over those of the US as a whole. This is because there is a lobby, AIPAC whose supporters are one issue voters and more importantly large contributors of money to political campaigns, sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars. The Israel Lobby is powerful for the same reason the anti-Castro Cuban Lobby is powerful. It has absolutely no opposition in either of the two US political parties. There is a huge downside for any US politician criticizing Israel. There is no upside ever since there is no American Palestinian Public Affairs Committee just as there is no upside to opposing the embargo for a US politician.

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          “The Israel Lobby is powerful for the same reason the anti-Castro Cuban Lobby is powerful. ”

          – The power of both is a complete fiction. But it’s a useful fiction because it offers the Americans two groups of outsiders to hate and blame. In the meanwhile, the ultra-wealthy who have no ethnicity and religion are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

          As for the “powerful anti-Castro lobby,” I wonder, why is there no “powerful pro-Putin lobby”? Putin could obviously muster the kind of money that little grocery store owners from Miami couldn’t even begin to dream of to bribe US politicians. Yet we never hear of anything like that. Might it be because animosity with Russia and Cuba is beneficial to the US just like a friendship with Israel is and the lobbies are invented when it suits?

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      2. Z Avatar
        Z

        …or does what benefits the arms dealers, I say darkly.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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