Part I: The Israel Lobby, U.S. Foreign Policy and the War In Gaza

Understanding Israel/Palestine

In Part I of a series on the Israel lobby, Stephen Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard and co-author of the book "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," discusses the effect of the lobby on U.S. foreign policy and the ongoing war in Gaza. The Israel lobby is an informal alliance of various interest groups that work to foster unconditional American support for Israel by pressuring Congress, the executive branch, media institutions and the academy. Professor Walt argues that this unconditional support runs counter to U.S. national interests. The consequences, which include the stalled and defunct peace process and U.S. complicity in Israel’s apartheid system and “plausible genocide” in Gaza, have seriously damaged the credibility of the United States and threatened its foreign policy priorities. Walt notes the biggest factor that explains the continuining overwhelming support in the U.S. Congress for Israel's war in Gaza is the Israel lobby. Backing for Israel's military campaign continues in Washington despite domestic and international pressure to end the war, which is devastating Gaza and has killed 31,000 people. Subsequent episodes in the new UIP series will examine how the Israel lobby started and evolved, how it operates and why it is so effective.