Key Obama adviser talks up mysterious power of Israel lobby

Gene at Harry's Place is one of a number of active supporters of Barack Obama claiming that Obama is much maligned by commentators who claim that he's somewhat hostile to Israel, or pro-Palestinian, and that his views are influenced by advisers who claim to see the malign power of the "Jewish/Israel/Zionist" lobby as unduly influencing US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and wider Middle East issues.

Gene has highlighted some articles and reports where Obama has talked up his support for Israel, leaving unanswered the question of how it is that Obama seems to have had a track record of picking or being close to advisers or associates who attribute shadowy power over the US to Israel and its supporters.

Now, as with the Reverend Wright, one of Obama's selected foreign policy advisers, Zbigniew Brzezinski, has popped up, embarrassingly off-message, to do the very thing Obama's detractors say he does. Namely, claiming "the Israel Lobby" is "too poweful",  McCarthyist, intimidates US politicians, the works:

Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former national security adviser, said that the pro-Israel lobby in the US was too powerful, while the slur of anti-Semitism was too readily used whenever its power was called into question.

Presenting a solution for the Middle East, he listed historical compromises that had to be made by Israelis and Palestinians but accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) – the largest and most influential Jewish lobby group – of obstructing peace efforts.

He said: "Aipac has consistently opposed a two-state solution and a lot of members of Congress have been intimidated and I don't think that's healthy."

Mr Brzezinski said "it's not unique to the Jewish community – but there is a McCarthyite tendency among some people in the Jewish community", referring to the Republican senator who led the anti-Communist witch hunt in the 1950s.

"They operate not by arguing but by slandering, vilifying, demonising. They very promptly wheel out anti-Semitism. There is an element of paranoia in this inclination to view any serious attempt at a compromised peace as somehow directed against Israel."

Although Mr Brzezinski is not a formal day-to-day adviser, he said that he talked to Mr Obama. He endorsed the Illinois senator, lauding him as "head and shoulders" above his opponents. He said that he was the only candidate who understood "what is new and distinctive about our age".

In turn, Mr Obama has praised Mr Brzezinski as "someone I have learned an immense amount from" and "one of our most outstanding scholars and thinkers".

They share very similar views on the folly of the Iraq war.

Robert Malley, a Middle East expert, recently quit as an Obama adviser after it emerged that he was talking to Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, as part of his work for the International Crisis Group.

Hmm. I expect there might be a spot of damage limitation on the part of Obama and his team after this one. It wouldn't convince me. But then, I'm not a voter in the US elections.

Comments

[Inna]

I wonder if Zbigniew Brzezinski thinks that only Polish-Americans should comment on US foreign policy while people with Scots-Irish names like McCain should keep their traps shut or if he feels that only Zbigniew Brzezinski knows what's good for America?

[John Meredith]

I don't see anything exceptional in these comments. He is not using 'Jewish Lobby' as some do as a euphemism for 'Jews' or 'International Jewry' or some such, but criticising the activities of a particular political lobbying body, much as I might criticise the lobby for the US sugar corporations. You can be very pro-Israel and very anti-AIPAC at the same time and without any painful intellectual contortions.

[Inna]

John-

The trouble is that he is criticizing people for advocating for causes that have to do with where they (or most likely their ancestors' ancestors) were from. In the US, we're all from somewhere else. Zbig's family is from Poland. Mine came from Russia. Our neighbor's Dad is from Iran. Barack's Dad is from Kenya. John M's people are from Scotland and Ireland. So my neighbor cares about our policy vis a vis Iran; Obama cares about our policy vis a vis Kenya; McCain I don't know about; I care about our policy vis a vis Israel; and it is highly possible that Zbig cares about our policy vis a vis Poland. Is this wrong?

Not at all.

It's a cacophohy of voices, sure but it's not wrong or anti-American or anything like that. We are the most diverse nation on the face of this earth, bar none and the reason we are so Peacefully diverse is that we respect one another's right to care about our heritage.

Regards,

Inna

[Yankev]

Note that both Zbig and the author quoting him call AIPAC a JEWISH lobby, not a pro-Israel or Zionist lobby. The implication is that non-Jewish Americans do not support Israel or are not members of AIPAC. Neither assumption is true, and the assumption says a great deal about those who mindlessly obsess about the supposed nefarious powers of the evil Zionist Lobby.

[John]

The moment ZB complained about the excessive power of the Jewish community, he revealed his antisemitic position. Quite simple, really.

Obama has a track record with such people. Only blind groupies - and Gene is one spectacular example, as his heavy-handed behaviour towards Obama's critics at HP shows - refuse to see this.