The Israel lobby exerts incredible power and influence over America. Some identify only one organization, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), as “the lobby” citing its influence on Capitol Hill. This is wrong. Many interconnected organizations channel their power and influence through AIPAC in Congress. Hundreds more “mini-AIPAC’s” coordinate with AIPAC and their own national office to lobby state legislatures to pass model legislation and spending authorizations benefiting Israel—without publicly disclosing most of their lobbying activities. Others operate quietly, policing what is allowed to appear in mainstream news media and channeling “hush money” to civil rights organizations to keep them out of grassroots pro-Palestinian movements. Coordinated, effective and highly averse to public scrutiny, the Israel Affinity Organizations that make up the lobby have transformed America. While some informed voters know the U.S. provides more foreign aid to Israel than any other country, the total flow of charitable, tax dollar, military aid, intelligence and “opportunity cost” are unknown to those footing the bill—and the lobby is determined to keep it that way.
Yet storm clouds are gathering over Israel’s lobby . Public opinion polls asking the right questions indicate Americans are nowhere near as approving of unconditional support as many Israel lobbyists insist. Most American Jews have nothing to do with Israel lobbying organizations. More important, broad and deep societal changes , along with the technology-driven rise of alternative and social media, are transforming large numbers of Americans from mostly unaware supporters into informed and active dissenters .
Big Israel is a comprehensive, historical, data-driven analysis of how the Israel lobby exerts influence across the United States. Based on a detailed review of more than 4,000 nonprofit organization tax returns, declassified U.S. government files and closely-held internal reports from Israel lobby organizations, Big Israel reveals how staid, respectable and bona fide social welfare organizations transformed themselves into a networked lobby for a foreign country—inflicting immense damage on average Americans . Big Israel offers many surprising insights into the Israel lobby’s strengths and weaknesses so that Americans working for peace and justice in Middle East policymaking can finally turn down the rolling thunder of propaganda and take effective action.
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Grant Smith, [is] head of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, a small policy-research and education organization highly critical of U.S. policy toward Israel." Jim McTague, Barrons
"I thought I knew something about the Israeli lobby, but reading 'Big Israel' showed me I had only been scratching the surface. Grant Smith digs deep into the history and methods of one of the most powerful--and feared--lobbies in this country. At a time when foreign influence on American politics is a major preoccupation, this book throws a spotlight on the foreign agents no one talks about." Justin Raimondo, Editorial Director, Antiwar.com
"Grant Smith, [is] an investigative reporter and author who heads the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy...as far back as the 1960s, the US Foreign Assistance Act was amended by concerned senators to prohibit any foreign aid for countries developing their own nukes. Smith asserts that the exception made for Israel was a violation of the US law but it was shrouded by the official secrecy." William Grieder, The Nation
"Grant F. Smith, the Director of IRmep, said that there has been Israeli espionage in the U.S. since the 1940s. 'My conclusion,' he said, 'is there is no U.S. law that if it stands in the way of Israel...that cannot be thwarted [by Israel].' The Anti-Defamation League
"Grant Smith...runs an organization called the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy that has some views about Israel that I find pretty awful...At some level, I wanted to ignore all this. I don't feel like giving free publicity to Grant Smith's campaign..." Jeffrey Lewis, ForeignPolicy.com
"Grant Smith, [is] an activist who heads a radical anti-Israel group..Smith's Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy organizes an anti-Israel conference each year in Washington, D.C." Jordan Schachtel, Breitbart News
About the Author
Grant F. Smith lives in Washington, DC where he researches and writes about U.S. Middle East policy formulation. Smith is director of the nonprofit Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). In his thirty-year professional career as a researcher, Smith has investigated financial services and global telecommunications industries, worked in twenty-two countries assessing the impact of regulatory and trade regime changes and managed multi-country research teams. Smith has a BA in International Relations from the University of Minnesota and MIM (Master of International Management) from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Smith's first research experience examining lobbying took place in the late 1980s as a member of a Minnesota Citizen's League committee investigating public entities that used a significant percentage of their taxpayer-funded allocations to lobby elected officials for ever-larger appropriations.
Publisher : Institute for Research (February 5, 2016)
Language : English
Paperback : 330 pages
ISBN-10 : 0982775717
ISBN-13 : 978-0982775714
