What is the Israel Lobby?
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The Israel Lobby in the United States has been described as "a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively works to move U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction... it is not a single unified movement with a central leadership". It is "a powerful interest group, made up of both Jews and gentiles, whose acknowledged purpose is to press Israel's case within the United States and influence American foreign policy in ways that its members believe will benefit the Jewish state. The various groups that make up the lobby do not agree on every issue, although they share the desire to promote a special relationship between the United States and Israel" (John Mearsheimer & Stephen Walt, 2007: 5).
Mearsheimer & Walt make a clear distinction between the Israel Lobby and anti-Israel conspiracy theories, arguing: 'The Israel lobby is the antithesis of a cabal or conspiracy; it operates out in the open and proudly advertises its own clout. In its basic operations, the Israel lobby is no different from interest groups like the farm lobby, steel and textile workers, and a host of ethnic lobbies, although the groups and individuals who comprise the Israel lobby are in an unusually favourable position to influence U.S. foreign policy. What sets it apart, in short, is its extraordinary effectiveness' (Mearsheimer & Walt, 2007:150).
The Israel Lobby and the media
Philo & Berry's study into the news coverage of the conflict between Israel and Palestine found that “The news framework and presentational structure, which was most frequently used in reporting events, tended to favour the Israeli perspective” (Philo & Berry 2004:160). They explain the effect the Israel Lobby have on the news coverage of the conflict:
- The pressures of organised public relations, lobbying and systematic criticism together with the privileging of Israeli perspectives by political and public figures, can affect the climate within which journalists operate. There is no total control and there are areas of the media where the debate is relatively open. But these factors go some way to explaining why journalists sometimes have difficulty in giving a clear account of the Palestinian perspective, while they can apparently more easily facilitate that of the Israelis. (Philo & Berry 2004:256).
Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model describe this phenomenon of organised negative responses to media coverage as "flak"; they argue that powerful governments and corporations can use their influence to pressurise the media into being uncritical of their activities (Herman & Chomsky 1994:28). UK Journalist Nick Davies describes this type of flak as an electric fence which journalists are unable to cross; he says "the most potent electric fence in the world is the one erected on behalf of the Israeli government"(Davies 2008:124).
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Priority pages
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Israeli government and intelligence connections
US Lobby
UK groups
European lobby
Israeli think tanks
Media Pressure Groups
HonestReporting | Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America | Give Israel Your United Support | Middle East Media Research Institute | Palestinian Media Watch | Anti-Defamation League | Champollion | Stop the Boycott
Issues
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Associated categories
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Latest Israel Lobby updates
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References and Resources
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Books
- Mearsheimer & Walt (2007), The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, Penguin: London
- Philo, G & Berry, M (2004), Bad News from Israel, Pluto Press: London
- Davies, N (2008), Flat Earth News, Chatto & Windus: London
Articles
- Craig Unger, From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq, Vanity Fair, March 2007
- James Bamford, Iran: The Next War, Rolling Stone, August 10, 2006
- Richard Silverstein, Hasbara spam alert, The Guardian, 9-January-2009
Videos
Resources
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