Israelis: A Lobby or An Executive Suite?

Q: Why is Israel destroying the entire infrastructure of Lebanon?
A: The short answer is to keep resupplies and reinforcements and escape unavailable to Hezbollah. The longer answer is that in addition to the Syria-Iran connection, Israel knows that Hezbollah is an indigenous Lebanese movement of the Shi'a community, a large plurality in the country, and not far from an absolute majority; thus, to truly suppress Hezbollah Israel must suppress the entire country of Lebanon.

Q: Did Israel deliberately kill those four UN observers? If so, why?
A: It certainly looks deliberate and the reason would be to eliminate witnesses. Israel has a history of committing atrocities and wants no unambiguous evidence of these crimes to exist. For example, in the 1967 war, begun by Israel as a preemptive strike against the Arabs (you thought the Bush foreign policy --bomb them afore they bomb us-- was original?) Israeli forces captured, through surrender, several hundred Egyptian soldiers and proceeded to execute (murder) them. This was a war crime by any definition or law or treaty. The USS Liberty, an NSA spy ship, was loitering off the Israeli coast in international waters in the Mediterranean, monitoring the war. Though the Liberty knew nothing of this Israeli war crime, and didn't even have that capability (see Body of Secrets by James Bamford, c. 2001, Doubleday), the Israelis took no chances and attacked the ship with torpedo boats and fighter jets, disabling it (nearly sinking it) and killed 34 Americans. Later Israel apologized for its "mistake" and even paid some monetary compensation. For Hezbollah there will be only death, not compensation. The Israelis intend to massacre a whole bunch of people.

The Israelis are clever, devious and rather amoral about these things. The biblical Hebrews were an aggressive, warlike people and now, well, only the technologies have changed. They are self-defined as god's chosen people, don't believe in an afterlife (that control mechanism of guilt used by the christian church) and even for those few who still await their messiah, the kingdom he is supposed to bring would be in the real here and now, not some nebulous heaven. Lebanese civilians, Palestinians, Egyptian soldiers, American sailors: the Israelis don't feel guilt about their victims; they do fear very real retribution. And so they attack their enemies at the first stirrings of resistance, demolishing their organizations, jailing or killing any who get in their way.

Q: Does the Israeli lobby control US foreign policy?
A: The short answer is that to a large degree, at least in the Middle East, yes. There is a longer answer. The question assumes that the Israeli lobby is an organization, or coterie of organizations and individuals that is separate from and outside of the US government. Wolfowitz, Abrams, Perle, the list is long. These people float through think tanks, quasi-governmental organizations and often in the government itself, almost exclusively in appointive, not elective, positions. Many, many of these influential people work for , with, even found institutions with an explicit pro-Israel bias. Most of the individuals are Jewish and most of their money comes from wealthy Jews. There are more Jews in the US than in Israel. A somewhat useful but "proceed with caution" generalization might be that not all supporters of Israel are Jews but all Jews support Israel. Yahweh's covenant with the Jews was work hard, follow the laws and successful rule will be yours. The Protestant work ethic can't hold a candle to drive for success of Jews.

Jews are disproportionately successful in our world and as individuals kudos to them and their efforts. But when they use their resources to influence or control politics, well, that is a different arena. Some Americans are displeased with what they consider liberal social policies; other Americans are worried about the influence of fundamentalist christians; so, it's not hard to imagine that some might fret about Jewish influence. And the really odd thing about this is that criticizing Jews is considered unacceptable. Cries of anti-Semitism immediately arise. Of course, Palestinians are Semites so being anti-Palestinian is equally anti-Semitic, or equally meaningless. And the pro-Israeli Jewish influence has, seemingly always, major influence in the mass media: newspapers, magazines, television. If a member of Congress strays from the fold and so much as expresses an open mind about Palestine or Lebanon the propaganda machine cranks up and that official is yanked back into line. Anyone running for Congress had best not say anything critical of Israel or the force of the publicity campaign will kill their election hopes. It is perhaps not an exaggeration to say that only minorities, mostly blacks, can get elected after criticizing Israel.

Listening this morning to NPR (that bastion of "liberal" thought) I heard an interview with the director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Robert Satloff. His was a typical NPR interview on foreign affairs: speak with someone from a think tank for an "objective, unbiased" review. Of course, this is not what Mr. Satloff or his organization represent; their position is for US-Israeli domination of the Arab Middle East. To that extent they are bipartisan; they don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat, only that you support Israel, Bush and ExxonMobil. The remarkable thing, to me, about the interview was the attitude evinced and how the interviewer, Renee Montagne, didn't call him on it. To quote from the NPR website: "Satloff says the conflict in southern Lebanon will be resolved only when Hezbollah is disarmed." The problem, in a nutshell, is Arabs. Mr. Satloff claimed that "we" (meaning Israel and the US) had "allowed" the situation to get out of hand. Saddam's Iraq, the Mullahs' Iran, Assad's Syria, Palestine's Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah: all have been allowed to grow into the current problem. The imperialistic chauvinism dripped from every word. It was akin to last week's McLaughlin (the only thing worse than a Jesuit is an ex-Jesuit) Group on PBS where Tony Blankley (an eft to the Newt) said that when Israel was founded the land was virtually empty, almost nobody lived there! Now that was a WHOPPER and he looked as though he expected someone to call him on it. On that show, of course, no one did.

The pro-Israel bias in the US is so pervasive and reflexive that we don't even think about it. It's second nature. Israel in the Middle East, the US throughout the world, want no opposition. That is a silly fantasy but they are going out of their way to destroy any regime that opposes them, from Venezuela to Iran to Russia. And they intend massive jails and mass murder for the resistance groups that arise. That's what 4th generation warfare is about: we no longer fear states, the enemy of the future is the people! You'd think that if Dubya wants our help and complicity in war crimes he'd at least offer us a carrot, things like rising incomes, good jobs, a safe and clean environment. The really funny thing is that Dubya and his cronies are not patriots; they don't care about the United States or its citizens. Dubya cares about money and wealth and power and control for him and his buddies. In my book, the regime is populated by traitors.