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93-603: (Redirected from Israel Lobby ) Israel lobby may refer to: Israel lobby in the United States Israel lobby in the United Kingdom The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy , a book by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt See also [ edit ] Jewish lobby Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

186-413: A Jerusalem Post article on the 'Megaphone', Israel's Foreign Ministry was (in 2006) "urging supporters of Israel everywhere to become cyberspace soldiers 'in the new battleground for Israel's image.'" Christopher Williams wrote for The Register : "However it is used, Megaphone is effectively a high-tech exercise in ballot-stuffing. We're calling it lobbyware." Since the early 2000s, there have been

279-892: A commanding presence at the American Enterprise Institute , the Center for Security Policy , the Foreign Policy Research Institute , The Heritage Foundation , the Hudson Institute , the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). These think tanks are all decidedly pro-Israel and include few, if any, critics of U.S. support for the Jewish state." In 2002,

372-581: A force on the American scene for the first time; under his leadership it had increased ten-fold to about 200,000. As chair of the American Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs, Brandeis raised millions of dollars to relieve Jewish suffering in war-torn Europe, and from that time "became the financial center for the world Zionist movement." The British Balfour Declaration additionally advanced

465-486: A general increase in proportional donations to the US Republican party since 1996. OpenSecrets ' 1990–2006 data shows that "pro-Israel interests have contributed $ 56.8 million in individual, group and soft money donations to federal candidates and party committees since 1990." In contrast, Arab-Americans and Muslim PACs contributed slightly less than $ 800,000 during the same (1990–2006) period. In 2006, 60% of

558-545: A landmark study published in the Journal of Political Economy . Their arguments were further developed by Robert Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman , who argued in their 1974 book, Time on the Cross , that slavery was both efficient and profitable, as long as the price of cotton was high enough. In turn, Fogel and Engerman came under attack from other historians of slavery. As slavery began to displace indentured servitude as

651-585: A number of organizations that focus on what could be called "pro-Israel activism" on college campuses. With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2001, these groups became increasingly visible. In 2002 an umbrella organization that includes many of these groups, known as the Israel on Campus Coalition , was formed as a result of what they felt were "the worrisome rise in anti-Israel activities on college campuses across North America". The stated mission of

744-581: A political issue between North and South, but as a social and economic system. He focused on the large plantations that dominated the South. Phillips addressed the unprofitability of slave labor and slavery's ill effects on the Southern economy. An example of pioneering comparative work was A Jamaica Slave Plantation (1914). His methods inspired the "Phillips school" of slavery studies, between 1900 and 1950. Phillips argued that large-scale plantation slavery

837-567: A unified force for Israel's well-being" and working to "strengthen and foster the special US-Israel relationship." Stephen Zunes , in a response to Mearsheimer and Walt, lists " Americans for Peace Now , the Tikkun Community , Brit Tzedek v'Shalom , and the Israel Policy Forum" as "pro-Israel" organizations that, unlike the right-leaning organizations focused on by Mearsheimer and Walt, are opposed to "the occupation ,

930-554: A year from the Emerson foundation for their efforts. Rabbi Alexander Schindler, the former chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (a US advocacy group), told an Israeli magazine in 1976, "The Presidents' Conference and its members have been instruments of official governmental Israeli policy. It was seen as our task to receive directions from government circles and to do our best no matter what to affect

1023-521: Is especially open to political courtship because, unlike the interests of other minority groups, support for Israel has long been compatible with traditional Republican and Democratic agendas. ... On the other hand, being distinctively unsupportive of Israel can significantly hurt a candidate's chances." " Political campaign contributions ", writes Mitchell Bard, "are also considered an important means of influence; typically, Jews have been major benefactors." According to Bard, objective quantification that

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1116-583: Is not possible to list" them all, although many are linked via the National Association of Evangelicals . It is a "powerful religious lobby" that actively supports Israel in Washington. According to the author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism , Michelle Goldberg , "Evangelical Christians have substantial influence on US Middle East Policy, more so than some better-known names such as AIPAC." According to Mitchell Bard,

1209-615: Is often referred to now as the fourth most powerful country in the world, the perceived threat to Israel is not military defeat, it is annihilation. At the same time, American Jews are frightened of what might happen in the United States if they do not have political power. The formal component of the Israel lobby consists of organized lobby groups , political action committees (PACs), think tanks , and media watchdog groups . OpenSecrets , which tracks all lobbies and PACs, describes

1302-581: Is strongly supported by a far larger and more influential Christian movement that shares its goals. In a 2006 article in the London Review of Books , Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt wrote: In its basic operations, the Israel Lobby is no different from the farm lobby, steel or textile workers' unions, or other ethnic lobbies. There is nothing improper about American Jews and their Christian allies attempting to sway US policy:

1395-835: The American Jewish Congress , the Zionist Organization of America , the Israel Policy Forum , the American Jewish Committee , the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism , Americans for a Safe Israel, American Friends of Likud , Mercaz-USA, and Hadassah . Fifty-one of the largest and most important come together in the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, whose self-described mission includes "forging diverse groups into

1488-699: The Brookings Institution founded the Saban Center for Middle East Policy , named after Haim Saban , an Israeli-American media proprietor, who donated $ 13 million toward its establishment. Saban has stated of himself, "I'm a one issue guy, and my issue is Israel", and was described by The New York Times as a "tireless cheerleader for Israel." The Centre is directed by AIPAC's former deputy director of research, Martin Indyk . Frontline , an Indian current-affairs magazine, asked rhetorically why

1581-533: The Christian Television Network to the more informal support of the annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem . Informal lobbying also includes the activities of Jewish groups. Some scholars view Jewish lobbying on behalf of Israel as one of many examples of a US ethnic group lobbying on behalf of an ethnic homeland , which has met with a degree of success largely because Israel

1674-572: The Democratic Party 's fundraising and 25% of that for the Republican Party's fundraising came from Jewish-funded PACs. According to a Washington Post estimate, Democratic presidential candidates depend on Jewish sources for as much as 60% of money raised from private sources. According to Mitchell Bard, Israel lobbyists also educate politicians by: taking them to Israel on study missions. Once officials have direct exposure to

1767-458: The Haganah ," he said, referring to the pre-state Jewish armed force. "There was a special American brigade. Nowadays you can't do that. The battle here is the hasbarah war," Youdovin said, using a Hebrew term for public relations . "We're winning, but we're very much concerned about the bad stuff." Indicative of the diversity of opinion in the early 2000s was a 2003 Boston Globe profile of

1860-594: The Megaphone desktop tool , which was designed and promoted by pro-Israel interest groups and diplomats. Regarding the 'Megaphone', the Times Online reported in 2006 that the Israeli Foreign Ministry "ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages." According to

1953-691: The Oslo Accords , which split "liberal universalists" and "hard-core Zionists—the Orthodox community and right wing Jews". This division mirrored a similar split for and against the Oslo process in Israel, and led to a parallel rift within the pro-Israel lobby. In 2008, Barack Obama implicitly noted differences within the lobby in his comment that "there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says, 'unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel, that you're anti-Israel,' and that can't be

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2046-684: The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine which preceded the Israeli Declaration of Independence , was met with an outpouring of Jewish American support and advocacy in Washington, D.C. U.S. President Harry S. Truman later noted, "The facts were that not only were there pressure movements around the United Nations unlike anything that had been seen there before, but that the White House, too,

2139-606: The University of Chicago and Harvard University , respectively), focusing almost exclusively on Jewish groups, define the core of the lobby to include AIPAC, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy , the Anti-Defamation League and Christians United for Israel . Other key organizations which they state work to benefit Israel, in many cases by influencing American foreign policy, include

2232-520: The administration of George W. Bush that seemed "so eager to please [Bush's] Gulf allies, particularly the Saudis , go out of its way to take the side of Ariel Sharon's Israel? Two public policy organizations give us a sense of an answer: the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs." Frontline reported that "WINEP tended to toe

2325-696: The establishment of the Zionist movement and the establishment of Israel. Lobbying by these groups, to influence the U.S. government in ways similar to Zionist ideology, dates back to at least the 19th century. In 1844 George Bush , a Christian Zionist and Professor of Hebrew at New York University who was related to the Bush political family , published a book entitled The Valley of Vision; or, The Dry Bones of Israel Revived. In it he denounced "the thralldom and oppression which has so long ground them (the Jews) to

2418-673: The media watchdog group Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is part of the right-wing component of the lobby. In The Case for Peace , Alan Dershowitz , also of Harvard, argues that the most right-leaning pro-Israel groups in the United States are not Jews at all, but Evangelical Christians . Dershowitz cites " Stand for Israel , an organization devoted to mobilizing Evangelical Christian support for Israel" co-founded by "[f]ormer Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed ." Although

2511-485: The rhetoric of most groups like Stand for Israel is similar to their Jewish-based counterparts, some individuals have based their support on specific biblical passages, thus they have been vulnerable to criticism from Israelis and US Jews for having "ulterior motives" such as the fulfillment of "prerequisite to the Second Coming " or having "better access for proselytizing among Jews." In April 2008, J Street

2604-424: The settlements , the separation wall , and Washington's unconditional support for Israeli policies ." These organizations, however, are not PACs and therefore, like AIPAC, are prohibited by campaign finance regulations from financially supporting political campaigns of candidates for federal office. Mearsheimer and Walt state in their controversial bestseller, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy , that

2697-749: The 'background' of those 'Pro-Israel' as, "A nationwide network of local political action committees, generally named after the region their donors come from, supplies much of the pro-Israel money in US politics . Additional funds also come from individuals who bundle contributions to candidates favored by the PACs. The donors' unified goal is to build stronger Israel–United States relations and to support Israel in its negotiations and armed conflicts with its Arab neighbors." According to Mitchell Bard, there are, three key formal lobbying groups: Christians United for Israel give "every pro-Israel Christian and Christian church

2790-460: The 18th century, the Atlantic slave trade brought enslaved Africans to the South during the colonial period as a source of labor for the harvesting of crops. There were almost 700,000 enslaved persons in the U.S. in 1790, which equated to approximately 18 percent of the total population or roughly one in every six people. This would persist through the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was not until

2883-472: The American South in large numbers to support European demand. By 1670, more than half of all tobacco shipped to England was being re-exported to other countries throughout Europe at a premium. In similar ways Britain was able to profit from other American staple crops, such as cotton, rice, and indigo. As Russell Menard puts it, Britain's capitalizing on increased European demand for these crops "fueled

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2976-478: The American colonies for economic gain was tobacco . When tobacco was first discovered as a recreational substance, there was a widespread social backlash in England, spearheaded by King James I himself. By the middle of the 17th century, however, Parliament had realized the revenue potential of tobacco and quickly changed its official moral stance towards its use. As a result, tobacco plantations sprung up across

3069-593: The CAMERA media watchdog group in which Mark Jurkowitz observes: "To its supporters, CAMERA is figuratively – and perhaps literally – doing God's work, battling insidious anti-Israeli bias in the media. But its detractors see CAMERA as a myopic and vindictive special interest group trying to muscle its views into media coverage." A former spokesman for the Israeli Consulate in New York City said that

3162-731: The Center for Security Policy thinktanks are "underwritten by far-right American Zionists" and that they both "effectively hold there is no difference between US and Israeli national security interests, and that the only way to assure continued safety and prosperity for both countries is through hegemony in the Middle East ;– a hegemony achieved with the traditional cold war recipe of feints, force, clientism and covert action." Stephen Zunes wrote in 2006 that "mainstream and conservative Jewish organizations have mobilized considerable lobbying resources, financial contributions from

3255-583: The Israel on Campus Coalition is to "foster support for Israel" and "cultivate an Israel friendly university environment". Members of the Israel on Campus Coalition include the Zionist Organization of America , AIPAC, Americans for Peace Now, the Anti-Defamation League, Kesher , the Union of Progressive Zionists ( Ameinu and Meretz USA / Partners for Progressive Israel ). Although these groups are largely united in their support of Israel, there

3348-404: The Jewish "informal lobby" in 2009 as the indirect means through which "Jewish voting behavior and American public opinion " influence " U.S. Middle East policy ". Bard described the motivation underlying the informal lobby as follows: American Jews recognize the importance of support for Israel because of the dire consequences that could follow from the alternative. Despite the fact that Israel

3441-559: The Jewish community, and citizen pressure on the news media and other forums of public discourse in support of the Israeli government." Also in 2006, journalist Michael Massing wrote that "Jewish organizations are quick to detect bias in the coverage of the Middle East, and quick to complain about it. That's especially true of late. As The Jewish Daily Forward observed in late April [2002], 'rooting out perceived anti-Israel bias in

3534-480: The Jewish community." Hyman Bookbinder , a high-ranking official of the American Jewish Committee , once said "Unless something is terribly pressing, really critical or fundamental, you parrot Israel's line in order to retain American support. As American Jews, we don't go around saying Israel is wrong about its policies." Bard noted in 2009 that "by framing the issues in terms of the national interest, AIPAC can attract broader support than would ever be possible if it

3627-471: The Jewish vote in America", according to Jeffrey S. Helmreich of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs , "lies in the fact that it is a uniquely swayable bloc. ... The issue of support for Israel [by a candidate] has proven capable of spurring a sizable portion of Jews to switch parties—in large enough numbers to tip the scales in national or statewide elections. Moreover, the "Israel swing vote"

3720-594: The Lobby's activities are not a conspiracy of the sort depicted in tracts like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion . For the most part, the individuals and groups that comprise it are only doing what other special interest groups do, but doing it very much better. By contrast, pro-Arab interest groups, in so far as they exist at all, are weak, which makes the Israel Lobby's task even easier. The author Mitchell Bard defined

3813-455: The NRA, AARP or other major political lobbies, and claim that much of this criticism is based on antisemitic notions of a Jewish conspiracy . Critics counter that accusations of anti-Semitism are often used cynically by supporters of the Israel lobby to stifle criticism of it. According to Bard, "Jews have devoted themselves to politics with almost religious fervor." He cites that "Jews have

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3906-536: The North, which more eagerly embraced women and child labor in its factories to push forward industrialization due to their relative value to Northern agriculture being lesser than in Southern agriculture. While the South still attracted immigrants from Europe, the North attracted far more during the early-to-mid 1800s, such that by the time of the American Civil War, the population of the North far exceeded

3999-510: The South in a precarious economic situation. This was the subject of the highly influential 1857 book The Impending Crisis of the South : How to Meet It , by Hinton Rowan Helper . Following the end of the Civil War and into Reconstruction era (1865–1877), the South experienced economic devastation. Some states that relied less heavily on the plantation system managed to fare better following its downfall. Ulrich Bonnell Phillips contends that

4092-479: The South included land- and slave-owners and slaves, various strata of social classes existed within and between the two. In examining class relations and the banking system in the South, the economic exploitation of slave labor can be seen to arise from a need to maintain certain conditions for the existence of slavery and from a need for each of the remaining social strata to remain in status quo. In order to meet conditions where slavery may continue to exist, members of

4185-485: The Southern domestic market consisted primarily of plantations, Southern states imported sustenance commodities from the West and manufactured goods from England and the North. The plantation system can be seen as the factory system applied to agriculture, with a concentration of labor under skilled management. But while the industrial manufacturing-based labor economy of the North was driven by growing demand, maintenance of

4278-426: The U.S. government began with strong popular support for Israel and governmental reservations about the wisdom of creating a Jewish state; formal inter-government relations remained chilly until 1967. Prior to 1967, the federal government of the United States provided some aid but was generally neutral towards Israel. However, in each year between 1976 and 2004, Israel received the most direct foreign assistance from

4371-499: The U.S. of any nation, approximately 0.1% of the $ 3 trillion U.S. annual budget. The pro-Israel lobby is composed of formal and informal components. Support for Israel is strong among American Christians of many denominations. Informal Christian support for Israel includes a broad range varieties support for Israel ranging from the programming and news coverage on the Christian Broadcasting Network and

4464-415: The U.S. senators William Fulbright and Roger Jepsen , and Adlai Stevenson III in his campaign for Governor of Illinois in 1982. The defeat of Charles H. Percy , Senator for Illinois until 1985, has been attributed to AIPAC-co-ordinated donations to his opponent after he supported the sale of AWACS planes to Saudi Arabia . Donations included $ 1.1 million on anti-Percy advertising by Michael Goland, who

4557-494: The United States The Israel lobby (or Zionist lobby ) in the United States comprises individuals and groups who seek to influence the U.S. federal government to better serve the interests of Israel . The largest American pro-Israel lobbying group is Christians United for Israel , which has over seven million members. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a leading organization within

4650-566: The University issued a statement in Inside Higher Ed calling for academic freedom from political pressure, in particular advocating openness and dialogue with groups identifying as supporters of Israel. In December 2007, several student leaders who advocated pro-Israel films and groups on college campuses were supported by advocacy group StandWithUs as "emissaries of the Jewish state" for their work and would receive up to $ 1,000

4743-700: The Zionist movement and gave it official legitimacy. The U.S. Congress passed the first joint resolution stating its support for a homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people on September 21, 1922. The same day, the Mandate of Palestine was approved by the Council of the League of Nations . Zionist lobbying in the United States aided the creation of the State of Israel in 1947–48. The preparation of and voting for

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4836-695: The complexities of Israel's predicament and that of the Middle East as a whole. We even ask each candidate to author a 'position paper' on their views of the US-Israel relationship – so it's clear where they stand on the subject." This process has become more targeted over time according to Bard, "In the past, Jewish contributions were less structured and targeted than other interest groups , but this has changed dramatically as Israel-related PACs have proliferated." Among politicians considered unfriendly to Israel who AIPAC has helped defeat include Cynthia McKinney , Paul Findley , Earl F. Hilliard , Pete McCloskey ,

4929-403: The concentration of landholding and slave holding, which were highly correlated, six percent of landowners ended up commanding one-third of the gross income and an even higher portion of the net income. The majority of landowners, who had smaller scale plantations, saw a disproportionately small portion in revenues generated by the slavery-driven plantation system. While the two largest classes in

5022-475: The country, its leaders, geography, and security dilemmas, they typically return more sympathetic to Israel. Politicians also sometimes travel to Israel specifically to demonstrate to the lobby their interest in Israel. Thus, for example, George W. Bush made his one and only trip to Israel before deciding to run for President in what was widely viewed as an effort to win pro-Israel voters' support. Mearsheimer and Walt state that "pro-Israel figures have established

5115-501: The dust," and called for "elevating" the Jews "to a rank of honorable repute among the nations of the earth" by restoring the Jews to the land of Israel where the bulk would be converted to Christianity. This, according to Bush, would benefit not only the Jews, but all of mankind, forming a "link of communication" between humanity and God. "It will blaze in notoriety ...". "It will flash a splendid demonstration upon all kindreds and tongues of

5208-404: The early 2020s. Those who donated to AIPAC are often important political contributors in their own right. In addition, AIPAC helps connect donors with candidates, especially to the network of pro-Israel political action committees. AIPAC president Howard Friedman says "AIPAC meets with every candidate running for Congress. These candidates receive in-depth briefings to help them completely understand

5301-587: The expansion of the American plantation colonies, transformed the Atlantic into an English inland sea, and led to the creation of the first British Empire ." Many claim that being a part of the British mercantilist system was in the best economic interest of the American colonies as well, as they would not have been able to survive as independent economic entities. Robert Haywood, in his article "Mercantilism and South Carolina Agriculture, 1700–1763", argues that "it

5394-504: The former U.S. president Bill Clinton , the advisor Jeremy Ben Ami , and the policy analyst Daniel Levy, and supported by prominent Israeli politicians and high-ranking officers, J Street supports politicians who favor diplomatic solutions over military ones, including with Iran ; multilateral over unilateral approaches to conflict resolution ; and dialogue over confrontation with a wide range of countries and actors. The means through which Israel lobby groups exert influence are similar to

5487-733: The highest percentage voter turnout of any ethnic group " and that of the American Jewish population "roughly 94 percent live in thirteen key electoral college states" which alone "are worth enough electoral votes to elect the president. If you add the non-Jews shown by opinion polls to be as pro-Israel as Jews, it is clear Israel has the support of one of the largest veto groups in the country." Bard goes on to say that for United States congressmen "there are no benefits to candidates taking an openly anti-Israel stance and considerable costs in both loss of campaign contributions and votes from Jews and non-Jews alike." "Most important fact about

5580-460: The impact of campaign contributions have on "legislative outcomes, particularly with regard to Israel-related issues" is difficult. This is because raw analysis of contributions statistics do not take into account "non-monetary factors" and whether or not "a candidate is pro-Israel because of receiving a contribution, or receives a donation as a result of taking a position in support of Israel." AIPAC did not give donations directly to candidates until

5673-573: The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in the 1790s that slavery grew very profitable and that the large plantation system developed. In the 15 years between the invention of the cotton gin and the passage of the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves , an increase in the slave trade occurred, furthering the slave system in the United States. The Antebellum South saw large expansions in agriculture, while manufacturing growth remained relatively slow. The Southern economy

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5766-423: The large plantation owner's wealth, often reflected in the number of slaves they owned, afforded them considerable prestige and political power." Phillips contended that masters treated enslaved persons relatively well; his views on that issue were later sharply rejected by Kenneth M. Stampp . His conclusions about the economic decline of slavery were challenged in 1958 by Alfred H. Conrad and John R. Meyer in

5859-430: The line from advocacy to outright intimidation . One highly publicized accusation comes from the former U.S. president Jimmy Carter , who complained of great difficulty in gaining access to a number of universities to discuss his new book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid which criticized certain Israeli policies. In October 2007, a group of 300 academics about 300 academics under the name The Ad Hoc Committee to Defend

5952-595: The line of whatever party came to power in Israel" while "JINSA was the U.S. offshoot of the right-wing Likud Party." According to Frontline, JINSA had close ties to the administration of George W Bush in that it "draws from the most conservative hawks in the U.S. establishment for its board of directors" including the U.S. vice president , Dick Cheney , and the Bush administration appointees John Bolton , Douglas Feith , Paul Wolfowitz , Lewis Libby , Zalmay Khalilzad , Richard Armitage , and Elliott Abrams . Jason Vest, writing in The Nation , alleges that both JINSA and

6045-421: The lobby, speaking on behalf of a coalition of pro-Israel American Jewish groups. The Israel lobby has funded primary campaigns against members of the two major political parties in the U.S. (the Republican Party and the Democratic Party ) who are viewed as hostile to Israel's interests. A Christian belief in the return of the Jews to the Holy Land has roots in the United States, which pre-date both

6138-405: The master class (e.g., white, landowning, slave-owning) had to compete with other members of the master class to maximize the surplus labor extracted from slaves. Likewise, in order to remain within the same class, members of the master class (and each subsumed class below) must expand their claim on revenues derived from the slave labor surplus. Mercantilist ideologies largely explain the rise of

6231-430: The means through which other similar lobbies, such as the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and the AARP (formerly known as "American Association of Retired Persons"), exert influence. A number of commentators have asserted that the Israel lobby has undue or pervasive influence over U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. However, other commentators note that no similar volume of criticism exists concerning

6324-457: The measure of our friendship with Israel." Commentary magazine notes, "It was an odd choice of words— Likud has not been Israel's governing party for more than three years—but what Obama clearly meant was that an American politician should not have to express fealty to the most hard-line ideas relating to Israel's security to be considered a supporter of Israel's." The American foreign-policy scholars John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (of

6417-403: The media has become for many American Jews the most direct and emotional outlet for connecting with the conflict 6,000 miles away.'" The April 2002 Forward article related how one individual felt: "There's a great frustration that American Jews want to do something," said Ira Youdovin, executive vice president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis . "In 1947, some number would have enlisted in

6510-404: The non-slave states. Wealth inequality grew as the larger landholders took the greater share of the profits generated by enslaved persons, which also helped to entrench their power as a political class. As the country expanded westward , slavery's propagation became a major issue in national politics , eventually boiling over into the Civil War . In the years that followed the Civil War, the war

6603-476: The northern and western states, much of the social spectrum was dominated by a wide range of different laboring classes. The conclusion that, while both the North and the South were characterized by a high degree of inequality during the plantation era, the wealth distribution was much more unequal in the South than in the North arises from studies concerned with the equality of land, slave, and wealth distribution. For example, in certain states and counties, due to

6696-616: The opportunity to stand up and speak up for Israel." According to the group's founder and head, Pastor John Hagee , the members "ask the leadership of our government to stop putting pressure on Israel to divide Jerusalem and the land of Israel." In his 2006 book The Restoration of Israel: Christian Zionism in Religion, Literature, and Politics , the sociologist Gerhard Falk describes the Evangelical Christian groups that lobby on behalf of Israel as being so numerous that "it

6789-428: The plantation "sadly restricted the opportunity of such men as were of better industrial quality than was required for the field gangs." Essentially, men who would have been otherwise capable of performing other skilled jobs were nonetheless relegated to field work because of the nature of the system. A 1984 journal article by Claudia Goldin and Kenneth Sokoloff suggested that the South misallocated labor compared to

6882-491: The plantation economic system depended upon slave labor, which was abundant and cheap. The five major commodities of the Southern agricultural economy were cotton, grain, tobacco, sugar, and rice, with cotton the leading cash crop . These commodities were concentrated in the Deep South (Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana). The leading historian of the era was Ulrich Bonnell Phillips , who studied slavery not so much as

6975-455: The plantation system in the United States. In the 16th and 17th centuries under mercantilism, rulers of nations believed that the accumulation of wealth through a favorable balance of trade was the best way to ensure power. As a result, several European nations began to colonize the Americas to take advantage of rich natural resources and encourage exports. One example of England utilizing

7068-478: The plantation system, largely agricultural. With the exception of New Orleans , Charleston , and Richmond the slave states had no large cities, and the urban population of the South could not compare to that of the Northeast , or even that of the agrarian West. This led to a sharp division in class in the southern states, between the landowning "master" class, yeoman farmers, poor whites , and slaves; while in

7161-546: The potential loss in investment of owning slaves from death, disability, etc. was much greater for small plantation owners. Accentuated by the rise in price of slaves seen just prior to the Civil War , the overall costs associated with owning slaves to the individual plantation owner led to the concentration of slave ownership seen at the eve of the Civil War. Much of the Antebellum South was rural, and in line with

7254-775: The presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower , Israel's concerns were not at the forefront. Other problems in the Middle East and the Soviet Union were paramount, and Israel's American supporters were not as active as they had been. AZCPA formed a pro-Israel lobbying committee to counter rumors that the Eisenhower administration was going to investigate the American Zionist Council . AZCPA's executive committee decided to change their name from American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs to American Israel Public Affairs Committee . The relationship between Israel and

7347-450: The principal supply of labor in the plantation systems of the South, the economic nature of the institution of slavery aided in the increased inequality of wealth seen in the antebellum South. The demand for slave labor and the U.S. ban on importing more slaves from Africa drove up prices for slaves, making it profitable for smaller farms in older settled areas such as Virginia to sell their slaves further south and west. The actuarial risk, or

7440-443: The result of this lobbying of the media was: "Of course, a lot of self-censorship goes on. Journalists, editors, and politicians are going to think twice about criticizing Israel if they know they are going to get thousands of angry calls in a matter of hours. The Jewish lobby is good at orchestrating pressure." In addition to traditional media, Israeli public relations during this time period were also supported with software called

7533-456: The title Israel lobby . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Israel_lobby&oldid=1194278336 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Israel lobby in

7626-424: The tone of the right-leaning component of the Israel lobby results from the influence of the leaders of the two top lobby groups: AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. They go on to list, as right-leaning think tanks associated with the lobby, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy , the American Enterprise Institute , and the Hudson Institute . They also state that

7719-597: The truth." The book sold about a million copies in the antebellum period. The Blackstone Memorial of 1891 was also a significant Christian Restorationist petition effort, led by William Eugene Blackstone , to persuade Benjamin Harrison , then the president of the United States , to pressure the Ottoman Sultan for the delivery of Palestine to the Jews. Beginning in 1914, the involvement of Louis Brandeis and his brand of American Zionism made Jewish Zionism

7812-535: The two Jewish groups aim to present policy makers with unified and representative messages via the aggregation and filtering of the diversity of opinions held by smaller pro-Israel lobby groups and the wider American Jewish community. The diverse spectrum of opinions held by American Jewry is reflected in the many formal pro-Israel groups, and as such some analysts make a distinction within the Israel lobby between right-leaning and left-leaning groups. This diversity became more pronounced following Israel's acceptance of

7905-472: Was romanticized by historical revisionists to protect three central assertions: that the Confederate cause was heroic, that enslaved people were happy and satisfied, and that slavery was not the primary cause of the war. This phenomenon has continued to the present day to contribute to racism , gender roles , and religious attitudes in the South, and to a lesser extent the rest of the country. In

7998-559: Was a major internal conflict in 2007 when the right-wing Zionist Organization of America unsuccessfully attempted to remove the left-wing Union of Progressive Zionists from the coalition after the latter group sponsored lectures by a group of former Israel Defense Forces soldiers who criticized the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza . There are some who feel that pro-Israel activism on college campuses can cross

8091-421: Was also a major contributor to AIPAC. The former executive director of AIPAC Tom Dine was quoted as saying, "All the Jews in America, from coast to coast, gathered to oust Percy. And the American politicians - those who hold public positions now, and those who aspire - got the message". A summary of pro-Israel campaign donations for the period of 1990–2008 collected by OpenSecrets indicates current totals and

8184-514: Was characterized by a low level of capital accumulation (largely slave-labor-based) and a shortage of liquid capital, which, when aggravated by the need to concentrate on a few staples, the pervasive anti-industrial and anti-urban ideology, and the reduction of Southern banking, led to a South dependent on export trade. This was in contrast to the economies of the Northern and Western U.S., which relied primarily on their own domestic markets. Since

8277-506: Was established, describing itself as the only federal "pro-peace, pro-Israel" PAC. Its platform explicitly supports a two-state solution. Its claimed goal is to provide political and financial support to candidates for federal office from US citizens who believe a new direction in US policy will advance US interests in the Middle East and promote real peace and security for Israel. Founded by

8370-540: Was inefficient and not progressive. It had reached its geographical limits by 1860 or so, and therefore eventually had to fade away (as happened in Brazil ). In The Decadence of the Plantation System (1910), he argued that slavery was an unprofitable relic that persisted because it produced social status, honor, and political power . "Most farmers in the South had small-to-medium-sized farms with few slaves, but

8463-432: Was perceived to represent only the interests of Israel. This does not mean AIPAC does not have a close relationship with Israeli officials, it does, albeit unofficially. Even so, the lobby some times comes into conflict with the Israeli government." Antebellum era Society was stratified, inegalitarian, and perceived by immigrants as lacking in opportunities. Consequently, the manufacturing base lagged behind that of

8556-482: Was subjected to a constant barrage. I do not think I ever had as much pressure and propaganda aimed at the White House as I had in this instance. The persistence of a few of the extreme Zionist leaders—actuated by political motives and engaging in political threats—disturbed and annoyed me." In the 1950s, the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs was created by Isaiah L. Kenen . During

8649-403: Was unthinkable that any trade could prosper in the straight-jacket of regimented and restricted international trade, without the guiding hand of a powerful protecting government." The plantation system created an environment for the South to experience an economic boom in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. However, reliance on both the plantation system and more widespread slave labor, left

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