De Pro Israel Lobby 115

Hard Questions on the Israel Lobby
by: HDS Greenway | Visit article original @ GlobalPost.com

Does the pro-Israel establishment in America have too much sway over foreign policy? That's like asking is there too much milk in your coffee. It depends on how you like your coffee.

But, unlike coffee, any discussion of Israel's influence is fraught with emotion that can, sadly, limit a free exchange of views in the United States.

The issue came up again recently when Charles Freeman, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, withdrew from a top intelligence post to which he had been named by the Obama administration. In a March 10 personal statement after his decision not to serve as National Intelligence Council Chairman, Freeman said he was the victim of a campaign by the "Israel lobby." The headline in the New York Times was: "Israel Stance Was Undoing Of Nominee."

No doubt Freeman had been critical for many years of Israel's policies, which he thought were self-defeating. After he withdrew from the council, Freeman said it was "irresponsible not to question Israeli policy and to decide what is best for the American people." He could have gotten away with that if he had substituted Turkish, or British policy, but not Israeli.

Freeman's defenders said his views on Israel were extreme, the Times wrote, only "when seen through the lens of American political life, and they asked whether it was possible to question American support for Israel without being either muzzled or marginalized."
Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/040909B