Who (REALLY) Controls US Foreign Policy?

there are very few lobbies working the corers of Capitol Hill with as much clout as APAC the American Israel public affairs committee they're the people who tell the Congress which legislation affecting Israel they like and which they don't inside this building are the headquarters of APAC the American Israel public affairs committee they would not let us photograph inside their headquarters APAC says it is the spearhead for support for Israel here in Washington it is not a political action committee it does not make campaign contributions but the cloud of APAC here on Capitol Hill is legendary

he everyone I am woly overdue for this video it's the Israel Lobby video in as little time as I can manage I'm going to explain what is essentially the thesis of one of the most important books on Israel the Israel Lobby and US foreign policy by John mimer and Steven Walt again this is long overdue but I'm going to do right by you all and try to explain everything succinctly Israel can do whatever it wants we know this we all know it they can deliberately induce a famine and saturate Gaza with so many bombs it

is one of the most bombed areas in the history of the world clearly there's nothing they can't get away with of course Israel enjoys a steady stream of military aid to the tune of some $4 billion a year though it's more than that ultimately in in a number of ways but perhaps more important than this military aid is their diplomatic support from the United States they can always rely on it without exception when the security Council votes to condemn or call for ceasefire or vote to Grant the Palestinians estate every single time the United States

votes in Israel's favor or vetos in Israel's favor it is for this reason that Israel enjoys complete and total immunity from consequence for its many grave crimes against humanity and now the same is true even as Israel is committing a genocide something easily provable pursuant to International humanitarian law I've made several videos on the topic but today I'd like to explain why does the US do this it's almost completely alone in the world in this regard there are four important myths which Israel's supporters will give to justify this extraordinary Aid and diplomatic cover let's start

with the first one myth number one Israel is a strategic asset the Cold War era argument goes that Israel was an asset to check Soviet power in the Middle East that's not what former National Security adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger believed our impression is that Israel must be strong but Israeli strength does not prevent the spread of Communism in the Arab world Israeli strength provides for Israeli security the best defense against the spread of Communism in the Arab world is to strengthen the moderate Arab governments so it is difficult to claim that a

strong Israel serves American interests because it prevents the spread of Communism in the Arab world it does not it provides for the survival of Israel in 1982 still well before the Soviet Union's demise Israel's invasion of Lebanon created Hezbollah who killed hundreds of US Marines in a suicide bombing at the barracks of the first Battalion 8 Marines another bombing of the US Embassy there was the single deadliest day in the cia's history the occupation of the Palestinian territories has further resulted in two uprisings that have killed thousands of people the occupation itself is especially troubling

considering the territories were first acquired through a preemptive attack by Israel against Egypt which brought Jordan and Syria to war leading to another War over the captured territories which almost led to nuclear war hardly a stabilizing force in the region as MIM ralt put it even if Israel was a valuable Ally during the Cold War that justification ended when the Soviet Union collapsed myth number two we need Israel to fight terrorism it shouldn't come as a big surprise that groups like Al-Qaeda attacked the United States largely because of their support for Israel years before 9/11

when a bomb Laden van exploded under the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1993 a young Ramsey USF sent letters to New York newspapers claiming responsibility as told by Steven Cole author of the p are winning ghost Wars The Secret history of the CIA Yousef issued three political demands an end to all us Aid to Israel an end to diplomatic relations with Israel and a pledge to end interference with any of the Middle East countries interior Affairs the terrorism that Israel practices which is supported by America must be faced with a similar one

the author notes that it made no references to Islam at all indeed Yousef to Define America as an enemy solely because of its support for Israel or take Abdul Rahman Yasin one of usf's co-conspirators who said in an interview with Leslie stall we have to send a message that this is not right this is to revenge for my Palestinian brothers and my brothers in Saudi Arabia the architect of the later 9/11 attacks themselves none other than College shik Muhammad was also motivated by us support for Israel according to the official 911 Commission report by his

own account ksm's animous toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences there as a student but rather from his violent disagreement with US foreign policy favoring Israel there's also the man himself Osama Bin Laden in Lawrence writes pets are winning the looming Tower the author describes a 14-year-old Osama sometimes he would sit in front of the television and weep over the news from Palestine in his teenage years he was the same nice kid his mother later related but he was more concerned sad and frustrated about the situation in Palestine in particular and the Arab

and Muslim World in general he was vocal about it in the Years prior to 911 declaring in his 1996 fatwa it is no secret to you my brothers that the people of Islam have been Afflicted with oppression hostility and Injustice by the judeo-christian alliance your blood has been spilt in Palestine and Iraq Mr Bin Laden you have declared a Jihad against the United states can you tell us why the US government has committed acts that are extremely unjust hideous and criminal through its support of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and we believe the US is

directly responsible for those killed in Palestine Lebanon and Iraq Americans are asking why do they hate us they hate what they see right here in this chamber a democratically elected government their leaders are self-appointed they hate our freedoms myth number three Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East the only place where all three monotheistic religions are allowed to peacefully practice I believe that America has a moral obligation to continue to support Israel Israel is neither a democracy nor is it especially moral compared to other

states that's putting it lately but bear with me first of all in February of 2023 the civilian Authority or the body that governs the West Bank was transferred to Israeli Finance Minister bezel smotrich in other words the West Bank was effectively annexed in 2023 what has been ruled by a military commander for more than half a century was transferred over to civilian control being administered by the federal government of Israel smotrich was given expansive Powers over land surveying registration settlement construction Outpost demolition infrastructure projects including water electricity transportation and other matters despite this extraordinary power

over the lives of some 3 million Palestinians not a single one of them are able to vote in Israeli elections despite being at the mercy of its whims this is not a democracy simply put the perilous situation in Gaza is anything but the manifestation of a morally righteous Democrat country either I've also covered the topic of Israeli apartheid in the occupied territories and Israel proper as well in this video here besides Sam mimer and Walt whether a country is democratic is not a reliable indicator of how Washington will relate to it the United States has

overthrown a few democratic governments in the past and has supported numerous dictators when doing so was thought to Advan us interests the Eisenhower Administration overthrew a democratically elected government in Iran in 19 53 while the Reagan Administration supported Saddam Hussein in the 1980s the fact that bills and political parties in Israel are disqualified if they negate the existence of the state of Israel as the state of the Jewish people or the Democratic character of the state is also caused for some alarm and contrary to basic Democratic principles in October of 2000 after Israeli police opened

fire on Israeli Arab protesters killing 13 the Israeli government set up the or commission to investigate what had happened the commission concluded which caused controversy in Israel that government handling of the Arab sector has been primarily neglectful and discriminatory indeed it's been officially observed by the Israeli government that Palestinian citizens of Israel who are considered to be an example of why Israel doesn't practice apartheid are far from equal to their Israeli counterparts indeed this is observed by the majority of the Israeli population what's worse not only do they see it most Israeli Jews support it

a 2016 Pew survey of Israeli Jews found that 79% believe they deserve preferential treatment in the very same survey 48% of Jewish Israelis agreed with the statement Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel there's also the strive for a Jewish demographic majority to which Israeli officials have employed language that is little different from from words uttered by white nationalists in the United States in a 2003 speech then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the Heria conference if there is a demographic problem and there is it is with the Israeli Arabs who will remain Israeli citizens

in 2007 BB apologized to the heredi community for child welfare Cuts as Finance Minister though he sought to put a positive spin on them as well the unexpected result was the demographic effect on the non-jewish public where there was a dramatic drop in the birth rate mimer Walt PA it imagine the outcry that would arise here if a US cabinet official spoke of the benefits of a policy that had reduced the birth rates of African-Americans and Hispanics thereby preserving a white majority but such statements are not unusual in Israel myth number four Israel is surrounded

by countries that want to destroy it if I may a caveat in a 2004 interview with haratz Israeli historian Benny Morris was asked if he identified with David benan after having researched him for several years up to that point I do not identify with Ben gurian I think he made a serious historical mistake in 1948 even though he understood the demographic issue and the need to establish a Jewish State without a large Arab minority he got cold feet during the war in the end he faltered the interviewer responds I'm not sure I understand are you

saying that Ben gurian aired in expelling too few Arabs Benny Morris if he was already engaged in expulsion maybe he should have done a complete job I know that this stuns the Arabs and the Liberals and the politically correct types but my feeling is that this place would be quieter and no less suffering if the matter had been resolved once and for all if beneran had carried out a large expulsion and cleansed the whole country the whole land of Israel as far as the Jordan River it may yet turn out that this was his fatal

mistake if he had carried out a full expulsion rather than a partial one he would have stabilized the state of Israel for Generations the interviewer the term to cleanse is terrible Benny Morris I know it doesn't sound nice but that's the term that they used at the time I adopted it from all the 1948 documents in which I am immersed on the Palestinians moris opined it is a very sick Society it should be treated the way we treat individuals who are serial killers there is a wild animal there that has to be locked up in

one way or another all right so just so we're not confused Benny Morris is no Palestinian sympathizer Morris one of the Israeli new historians and author of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem is well known for debunking the conventional myths of Zionist history one of the most tenacious myths relating to 1948 is that of David and Goliath that the Arabs were overwhelmingly stronger militarily than the yeshu the simple truth is at the stronger side one rashed khi has gone into detail on this himself Israel in fact outnumbered and outgunned its opponents there were only

five regular Arab military forces in the field in 1948 as Saudi Arabia and Yemen did not have modern armies to speak of just four of these armies entered the territory of mandatory Palestine the minuscule Lebanese AR never crossed the frontier and two of these Jordan's Arab Legion and Iraq's forces were forbidden by their British allies from breaching the borders of the areas allocated to the Jewish state by partition and thus carried out no invasion of Israel so much of the Arab Coalition wouldn't even invade Israel proper much less seek its destruction indeed as Benny Morris

wrote in his 1948 and after none of the Arab states save trans Jordan committed the full weight of their military power to the Enterprise indicating either inefficiency or perhaps a less than wholehearted seriousness about the declared aim of driving the Jews into the sea but even trans Jordan Morris writes neither expected nor planned for Israel's demise nor were the Arab Legion operations from May onwards designed to bring this about as previously noted the 1967 war was sparked not by Arab states seeking to destroy Israel but by an Israeli attack on Egypt in the later 1973

War says Morris presidents anir Sadat of Egypt and haes Assad of Syria sought to regain the territories lost in 1967 neither aimed to destroy Israel despite a still widely held belief apparently since Helen Miran starred in a movie which declares the opposite if the Arabs reach Tel Aviv Israel will be wiped off the map of course today Israel is one of the most powerful militaries anywhere in the entire world the fourth most powerful military after the US Russia and China according to US News and World Report it is also the only country in the Middle

East and in fact one of the very few anywhere with nuclear weapons military prowess aided by the extraordinary Aid received by the United States every year though the US and Israel didn't always have this special relationship Harry Truman supported the US partition plan and recognized Israel but American policy makers didn't want to put their full weight behind the N Jewish state for fear of alienating Arab states it wasn't until John F Kennedy's presidency when he authorized the first major arm shipment to Israel in 1963 that the floodgates opened anti-aircraft missiles and tanks were among the

first Arms Why JJ Goldberg editor of the Jewish forward newspaper explained in his work Jewish power Zionist influence increased exponentially during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations because the affluence and influence of Jews in American society had increased Jews had become vital donors to the Democratic party they were key figures in the organized labor movement which was essential to the Democratic party they were major figures in Liberal intellectual cultural and academic circles more than any of their predecessors in the Oval Office John Kennedy and lendon Johnson counted numerous Jews among their close advisers donors and personal

friends the Israeli Victory from the 6-day war saw shipments of military aid soar to new heights in the early days of the state of Israel us officials believed it too weak to act as a counterweight to Soviet influence simply put Israel's military victories proved otherwise from 1949 to 1965 us Aid averaged $63 million a year by 1970 it was 102 million and in 1971 us Aid reached a staggering 634 million 85% of that pure military aid this amount qued after the Yum kapor war in 1973 by 1976 Israel was the largest recipient of US foreign

aid a status it has held ever since over the years Congress has granted Israel Myriad special privileges in order to receive more Aid and quicker mimer and Walt explained most recipients of American foreign aid get their money in quarterly installments but since 198 2 the annual foreign aid bill has included a special Clause specifying that Israel is to receive its entire annual appropriation in the first 30 days of the fiscal year it's required that they have to buy American Weaponry the foreign military financing program normally requires recipients of US military assistance to spend all of

the money here in the United States to help keep American defense workers employed Congress grants Israel a special exemption in the annual Appropriations Bill however authorizing it to use about one out of every four US military aid dollars to subsidize its own defense industry Jeremy M sharp noted in a 2006 report for the Congressional research service that no other recipient of US military assistance has been granted this benefit another CRS report from 2005 reveals amazingly that because US economic aid is given to Israel as direct government-to-government budgetary support without any specific project accounting and money

is fungible there is no way to tell how Israel uses us Aid again a privilege not granted to any other recipient of us Aid anywhere in the world why does Israel get all these special privileges if not for being an asset but rather a liability if not for being a democracy a war on terror partner or surrounded by States wanting to destroy it why does Israel get all this Aid as mimer and Walt would put it simply it's because of the lobby but they maintain that the lobby isn't all that different different from other lobbies

there are various ethnic lobbies that fight for their respective interests there's a Mexican Lobby an Indian Lobby a Turkish Lobby a Cuban Lobby mimer Walt provide extensive literature on ethnic lobbies Cuban Americans have lobbied to maintain the Embargo on Castro's regime Armenian Americans have pushed Washington to acknowledge the 1915 genocide and more recently to limit us relations with aeran among other examples there's one important difference with the Israel Lobby though it's extremely powerful we use Israel lobby as a convenient shorthand term for the loose Coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape US

foreign policy in a pro-israel direction a loose Coalition indeed though the Israel Lobby is quite easy to identify the 50 largest groups all belong to a conference of presidents of major American Jewish organizations here are all its members but the American Israel public affairs committee is the most important group back in 1997 Fortune Magazine asked nearly 2,200 insiders including members of Congress their staffs and Senior White House officials to rank the mightiest lobbying groups APAC placed second behind the 33 million member AARP a key pillar of the Lobby's Effectiveness is its influence in the US

Congress whether the issue was abortion Arms Control affirmative action gay rights the environment trade policy Healthcare immigration welfare There is almost always a lively debate on Capitol Hill but where Israel is concerned potential critics fall silent and there is hardly any debate at all to understand why that is we must examine apac's grooming of congressional candidates as former APAC president Howard fredman explained in August 2006 APAC meets with every candidate running for congress these candidates receive in-depth briefings to help them completely understand the complexities of Israel's predicament and of the Middle East as a whole

we even ask each candidate to author a position paper on their views of the US Israel relationship so it's clear where they stand on the subject in 1990 Democrat Harry Lonsdale challenged the Republican senator from Oregon Mark Hatfield the word that I was pro-israel got around he said lale described a visit to apek headquarters during his campaign it was an experience I will never forget it wasn't enough that I was pro-israel I was given a list of vital topics and quizzed read grilled for my specific opinion on each actually I was told what my opinion

must be and exactly what words I was to use to express those opinions in public shortly after the encounter at APAC I was sent a list of American supporters of Israel that I was free to call for campaign contributions I called they gave from Florida to Alaska there's a reason Bill Clinton referred to APAC as better than anyone else lobbying in this town life is good on apac's good side but another reason why APAC is so effective is its ability to punish those who incur its wrath in one Stark example Americans will remember what happened

in February of 2019 when journalist Glenn Greenwald reported on Twitter that Kevin McCarthy was seeking to reprimand Representatives ilhan Omar and Rashida TB over their criticisms of Israel ilhan Omar the newly elected Somali American representative from Minnesota's fifth congressional district responded with six words it's all about the benjam 's baby but Omar was far from finished when asked would love to know who ilhan Omar thinks is paying American politicians to be pro-israel Omar replied with one word APAC Trump called on her to resign and I think she should resign from Congress frankly Democrat Majority Leader

stenny Hoyer House Majority Whip Jim kurn and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi published a statement which read anti-Semitism must be called out confronted and condemned whenever it is encountered without exception we are and will always be strong supporters of Israel in Congress because we understand that our support is based on shared values and strategic interests congresswoman Omar's use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel supporters is deeply offensive we condemn these remarks and we call upon Congressman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments a statement that could very well have been written

by APAC for letter writing is their specialty as we'll see later apex's political operation is used precisely as representative Omar suggested says former APAC employee MJ Rosenberg I know this because I witnessed it over and over again I sat in APAC staff meetings at which the political director discussed whom we would be supporting in this campaign and whom we were going to destroy in that one when asked whom she is accusing of buying members of Congress Omar responded with one word APAC period here's the the thing APAC is not synonymous with Jews APAC has many

weapons at its disposal in its Arsenal it's remarkable the power of a letter writing campaign let alone editorials publishing op-eds by think tank pundits when Gerald Ford through his Chief Diplomat Henry Kissinger was trying to secure peace between Israel and Egypt they lost their patience you don't understand I'm trying to save you Kissinger reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister yek Rabin Ford even sent rabine a letter which read I have directed an immediate reassessment of US policy in the area including our relations with Israel no less than 76 Senators signed a letter opposing the administration as

then senator from Maryland Charles Matias wrote for foreign affairs 76 of us promptly affixed our signatures although no hearings had been held no debate conducted nor had the administration been invited to present its views one Senator was reported to have candidly expressed a feeling that in fact was widespread the pressure was just too great I caved that Senator was in fact Iowa's John Culver jumping ahead to 2002 52 Senators signed a letter urging Vice President Dick Cheney not to meet with yaser Arafat of the PLO in one ambitious example APAC mobilized thousands of pro-israel activists

to urge lawmakers to sign a letter to the Bush Administration calling for an end to All American contacts with members of the Palestinian Authority some six thousand APAC members took part meeting with hundreds of lawmakers pushing pieces of legislation mandating tougher sanctions against Iran and ensuring financial aid to Israel no wonder former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagle Berger once told Apex Tom Dy dy I deal with you because you could hurt me or Democratic senator from South Carolina Ernest hulings as he left office in 2004 you can't have an Israeli policy other than what APAC

gives you around here for not Towing the line as president hopeful Howard Dean failed to do by suggesting the US take a quote evenhanded role in the Arab Israeli conflict Nancy Pelosi of California signed a letter with 33 Congressional Democrats that said it is unacceptable for the US to be evenhanded on these fundamental issues so control of one of the three branches of government is totally in the hands of the Israel lobby but it doesn't end there there's also the executive branch again this has been the case for for decades for example APAC suffered a

scandal in 1992 when Heim Katz a prospective donor calling apac's then president David Steiner but unbeknown to Steiner the conversation was being taped the transcript is revealing Steiner I have friends on the Clinton campaign Close Associates Gore is very committed to us I've known bill for seven eight years I know him on a personal basis I have friends one of my friends is Hillary Clinton scheduler one of my officers daughters works there we gave two employees from APAC leave of absences to work on the campaign I mean we have a dozen people in that campaign

in the headquarters he also bragged about lavish military aid I met with US Secretary of State Jim Baker and I cut a deal with him besides the 10 billion do in loan guarantees which was a fabulous thing $3 billion in foreign in military aid and I got almost a billion dollars in other goodies that people don't even know about Steiner was right Martin indic co-founder of the Washington Institute for near East policy and former deputy director of research at APAC earned a seat at Clinton's National Security Council and went on to become the US ambassador

to Israel and assistant Secretary of State wnep's other co-founder Dennis Ross also served prominently as Clinton's special Envoy to the Middle East these were Clinton's advisers for the 2000 Camp David Summit in the Bush Administration that's for another video but this trend goes back years take a look at this 1987 New York Times article speaking of APAC so impressive is its political Mystique that now 16 months before the 1988 elections nearly all the presidential candidates have already met with APAC officials to be interviewed about their positions on the Middle East this is an actual example

Mr Tom Dy said I won't give you the name one of the presidential candidates called us and said I will be publicly declaring soon and I am interested in hiring so and so for a top campaign position tell me what you think of them was it thumbs up or thumbs down Mr Dy was asked thumbs up the Israelis are more than aware of the importance of APAC with former prime minister Ariel Chiron telling an audience when people ask how they can help Israel I tell them help APAC Shon successor ahud agreed thank God we have

APAC the greatest supporter and friend we have in the whole world so APAC appears to have the executive branch as well but aside from Pure government influence what shapes narratives in the media also influences not only policy but also everyday conversation much of the time editorial boards Executives CEOs are staunchly pro-israel the longtime editor of the Wall Street Journal Robert Bartley once said Shamir Chiron BB whatever those guys want is pretty much fine by me a trend that appears to have continued after his death though the political affiliations of editors and CEOs is critical in

understanding coverage a topic I explore in this this video about CNN's recent pro-israel bias the backlash from the lobby is itself a potent Force after Israel invaded rala Bethlehem and most notably Janine in the West Bank during the second inata intense public reaction to coverage of the violence of the Middle East conflict has prompted unusually harsh attacks on several news media outlets and has led to boycotts of the New York Times the Los Angeles Times And The Washington Post WB FM in Boston said it has lost more than 1 million doll in underwritings and pledges

this year nearly 4% of its annual budget then CNN Chief news executive een Jordan said he could find up to 6,000 email messages protesting coverage in his inbox in a single day in a call back to the experts filter as in the five filters of the mass media laid out in the foundational media criticism text manufacturing consent mimer Walt explained that instead of relying on government officials or academics to provide analysis and commentary news media increasingly depend on Experts from washington-based think tanks many think tanks also distribute brief and easily digested policy memorandums to legislators

and other government officials they organize seminars working breakfasts and briefings for officials and their staffs and encourage their own analysts to publish op-eds and other visible forms of commentary all with the goal of shaping the prevailing climate of ideas so rather than Israel's democratic values or Superior morality or their being a David among an Arab Goliath the real reason for the absolute and total lack of accountability for Israel is the fact that Israel through its powerful Lobby in the United States has effectively rested control of our most important political institutions from the hands of the

broader public to a small group of right-wing ideologues whose concern is territorial expansion and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians and hawkish policy toward Iran with the ambition of one day bombing it all at the expense of the Palestinians the Arab world the Muslim world and Israel in the United States themselves indeed Israel's hand in the invasion of Iraq hurt most of all millions of Iraqis but also Israel and the United States and by alienating Arab leaders and ultimately strengthening Iran and providing it numerous safe havens in the Middle East that process will be the topic

of my next video indeed the Israel Lobby video is a series subscribe if you're new and stay tuned if you've already been here instance this year many pro-israel packs are trying to defeat incumbent Senator chick HEC of Nevada even though he is Jewish because he too did not follow the APAC line on weapon sales to the Arabs in recent years APAC and the pro-israel packs have helped defeat among others Congressman Paul fendley and Pete McClosky Senators Harrison Schmidt of New Mexico Walter Huddleston of Kentucky and Chuck Percy of Illinois I finally reached the stage where

as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee I saw our foreign policy totally turned around with a Muslim World 800 million people looking a scance at the United States of America what is happening who is running the foreign policy can Israel and the Prime Minister have more power than the entire Senate of the United States or the president of the United States and that to me I simply said enough is enough allog together Israel gets more than $3 billion a year in assistance from the United States sometimes the the votes go through without a single debate

involving billions of dollars you couldn't spend that kind of money in this country without a huge debate going on but a foreign government gets this money without debate because simply it's it's just organized to get it