https://tinyurl.Com/Mearsheimer-Walt-Jewish-lobby
Within the US, the main driving force behind the war was a small band of
neo-conservatives, many with ties to Likud. But leaders of the Lobby’s major
organisations lent their voices to the campaign. ‘As President Bush attempted
to sell the . . . war in Iraq,’ the Forward reported, ‘America’s most important
Jewish organisations rallied as one to his defence. In statement after
statement community leaders stressed the need to rid the world of Saddam
Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction.’ The editorial goes on to say
that ‘concern for Israel’s safety rightfully factored into the deliberations of the
main Jewish groups.’ Although neo-conservatives and other Lobby leaders
were eager to invade Iraq, the broader American Jewish community was not.
Just after the war started, Samuel Freedman reported that ‘a compilation of
nationwide opinion polls by the Pew Research Center shows that Jews are
less supportive of the Iraq war than the population at large, 52 per cent to 62
per cent.’ Clearly, it would be wrong to blame the war in Iraq on ‘Jewish
influence’. Rather, it was due in large part to the Lobby’s influence, especially
that of the neo-conservatives within it.