Israel’s Influence: Good or Bad for America?

• Conference speakers analyze detrimental effect Israeli power has on U.S.

By John Friend —

While the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) met for its annual policy gathering in Washington, D.C., just down the road, 300 people attended a conference on March 18 that focused on the harmful influence that pro-Israel Jewish lobbies have on Congress, the mass media, and American foreign policy.

The conference, entitled “Israel’s Influence: Good or Bad for America?” was organized by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA) and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, two organizations that have long been critical of the blind support United States officials and politicians grant to the Jewish state. WRMEA produces a magazine by the same name, which is published by the American Educational Trust, a charity founded by retired U.S. foreign service officers.

Held at the National Press Club, the conference featured a remarkable array of highly qualified speakers, including Gideon Levy, an Israeli columnist critical of Israel’s brutal treatment of the native Palestinian population as well as the Jewish state’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories, Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, (USA-Ret.), a fierce critic of America’s Israel-first foreign policy, and Justin Raimondo, (born Dennis Raimondo) an anti-war activist, journalist, and writer focusing on American foreign policy.

“The purpose of this conference was primarily to expose and analyze the enormous impact that Israel has on America’s foreign policy,” noted Merlin L. Miller, whose book Eagles Are Gathering was recently published by AMERICAN FREE PRESS. “With an impressive array of speakers and panelists, they were quite successful, revealing
difficult truths that are bankrupting America and making us a global pariah,” he said.

Miller attended the conference, which was held just before the kickoff of the annual AIPAC Policy Conference. AIPAC’s annual conferences generally feature some of the leading politicians and statesmen in America, and this year was no different.

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Presidential contenders Hillary Clinton, Donald J. Trump, John R. Kasich, and Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz addressed the powerful pro-Israel lobby at this year’s conference, pledging their unswerving loyalty and support for the Jewish state. House Majority Leader Kevin O. McCarthy (R.-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D.-Md.) also addressed the AIPAC conference, as did Vice President Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden, Jr., demonstrating once again that when it comes to Israel, both major political parties are firmly in the Zionist camp.

“Israel exerts a shocking degree of influence by way of aggressive, well-funded and intricately organized lobbying efforts,” Miller told AFP. “In essence, through the actions of AIPAC, wealthy Israel supporters, and neoconservative-controlled think tanks and foundations, they own our media, politicians, and governmental and nongovernmental agencies and institutions.”

Due to the pro-Israel bias in the mainstream mass media and the power wielded by the organized Jewish community and top pro-Israel lobbies such as AIPAC, the American people are largely ignorant and misinformed when it comes to America’s disastrous foreign policy in the Middle East and the harsh reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Since its founding, the American political establishment, regardless of which party is in power, has provided the Jewish state with unwavering political, financial, and diplomatic support, including providing roughly $3 billion annually to Israel to maintain its military superiority in the region. However, more and more Americans are becoming disenchanted with America’s slavish devotion to Israel and a foreign policy that places the interests of a foreign nation ahead of the U.S.

Israel is regularly touted as America’s top ally in the Middle East, a contention that is easily refuted by objectively analyzing the destructive and parasitic relationship the two nations have.

“If Israel is our greatest ally, then we certainly don’t require enemies,” Miller explained to AFP. “Through bribery, blackmail, spying, and false-flag operations, Israel regularly betrays America. As far as being the only true democracy in the region, I believe the oppressed Palestinians might take exception to that.”

Video of the entire conference and other supporting materials, including presentations used during the speeches and panel discussions, are available on the conference’s website.

John Friend is a California-based writer who maintains a blog.