Miguel: You might be interested in an episode of Fresh Air about The Israel Lobby. Terry Gross interviews Stephen Walt, one of the co-authors, and although I haven’t read the book yet, he makes his argument in a well-reasoned and balanced way and responds to the criticism he and his co-author have received. Then, later in the show, she interviews Abraham Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, who in my personal opinion comes off as a paranoid, raving lunatic. He even invokes the Nazis, therefore quickly proving Godwin’s Law.
I think you can have a rational, two-sided argument about the issue, but Foxman certainly didn’t deliver. I’m a huge fan of Fresh Air and Terry Gross’s interviews, but I can’t help but wonder if they could have gotten a better person to deliver the counterpoint. I think for a lot of people who realize that there is nuance and multiple perspectives to any issue, Foxman’s blunt responses did little to win support for his position. But I bet it did sell more books!(*)
(*) Foxman also has a book out called The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control, which is more or less a direct response to The Israel Lobby.