Here’s a fact that might astonish Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, whose book, “The Israel Lobby,” posits the existence of a nefarious, all-powerful Jewish lobby that works in direct opposition to American interests: The “Lobby” (they love to capitalize the word, to accentuate its alleged uniqueness) has failed to convince two successive American administrations, one Republican and one Democratic, to attack Iran’s nuclear sites. So much for Jewish power.

Here’s another fact that might astonish Walt and Mearsheimer: It turns out that the Jewish lobby wasn’t even the main lobby working to bring about an attack on Iran. It was, according to the treasure trove of State Department cables released by Wikileaks, the Arab lobby — whose lead lobbyist is, by the way, the King of Saudi Arabia (which is a big job, since he’s also in charge of the world’s oil supply) — that was at the forefront of an intensive, even ferocious, anti-Iran lobbying effort. For Walt and Mearsheimer to acknowledge that the Arab lobby, and not the Jewish lobby, was the prime mover of this issue would mean that they would have to recall their book, and somehow stuff back into a bottle all of the anti-Semitic invective they unleashed in the book’s wake. So don’t expect an apology anytime soon.

In sum, what we have here is a situation in which all of the Semites in combination have been proven impotent in their attempt to move American foreign policy. Which suggests that American foreign policy might actually be made by Americans. This is definitely a tough week for the neo-Lindberghians.

He should be a regular read for us all.

I think we were separated at birth. I’ve found my long-lost brother. Welcome to the family!

Israeli students slam American ‘Israel Lobby’ authors
Two prominent American professors, who have recently been causing an uproar with their best-selling book critical of the powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington, faced a raucous reception Thursday at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

About 200 students and faculty members crammed into a stuffy lecture hall and grilled John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt for more than two hours about the harsh findings in their book, “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy,” published last year.

Makes you think there are going to be some hard-hitting questions by Israeli students to the W-M team, doesn’t it? That opening makes you think you’re going to get some really nasty responses from the students at the lecture. Were W-M shouted down? Booed? Did anyone throw a pie in their faces?

I wouldn’t know. The AP didn’t inform me of anything other than that W-M spoke at Hebrew University, that they’re martyrs of the “Israel Lobby,” and that a lot of people disagree with them but some people don’t.

You won’t find a single question in the paragraphs that follow. Not one. You’ll get a statement by a student sympathetic to the W-M smear. You’ll get a very long explanation by the AP writer on how W-M have been attacked by people who disagree with their thesis. And you’ll get a quote at the very end of the article by someone from the ADL who, I think, is critical of them. It’s hard to tell in context. But most of the article is like this:

Since Mearsheimer, a University of Chicago professor, and Walt, of Harvard University, published their working paper of the same title in 2006, they have drawn the wrath of Jewish American groups and US Administration officials.

“If you bring up the Israel lobby, you are asking for trouble,” Walt said as he opened his lecture. He said he knew he was “playing with fire” when he wrote the book, but said he would not be deterred by personal attacks against him.

There is not a single quote of a question from the “raucous reception”. There is nothing but this description:

They said AIPAC wields disproportionate power because of deep financial resources and heavy-handed tactics. They were then showered with questions, as the classroom erupted in excited conversation. The exchange was mostly cordial, with the American professors eliciting some laughs from the crowd, but at times it got testy.

Gee. It got “testy.” But “the exchange was mostly cordial.” And yet, the scary lead talks about the “raucous reception” W-M got. You know, like this one:

Not all in the audience were hostile. Korina Kagan, a political science lecturer, said she essentially agreed with their thesis and was appalled by the attacks against them, especially from academic circles.

“The smear campaign against them is worse than anything they have ever written,” she said, adding that many of their positions are shared by commentators in the Israeli media. “We need to have a free academic exchange.”

Hm. That’s awfully raucous, Korina. You want to control yourself. You may suffer an aneurism if you’re not careful.

Here’s my question to the AP: Was this article written entirely from the Walt-Mearsheimer press release, or did you actually have someone in the audience for the student quote above?

The Chronicle of Higher Education managed to find a completely different angle for the same lecture:

‘Israel Lobby’ Professors Get Hospitable Greeting in Israel
Jerusalem — The first appearance in Israel by Stephen M. Walt and John J. Mearsheimer since the publication of their controversial book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, impressed a largely student audience at the Hebrew University, but left some faculty members wondering about their honesty.

A threatened boycott failed to have any effect, and the talk passed off with nothing more dramatic than some lively debate and repeated declarations from the pair that they are neither anti-Semitic nor Israel-haters.

So, gee, the AP is what, lying?

Yeah, I’m thinking.