The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control [Hardcover]

Abraham H. Foxman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1403984921 | ISBN-13: 978-1403984920 | Edition: First Edition

The representative of the Jewish community and staunch defender of human rights, Foxman delivers a powerful blow to such ideas as "The Israel Lobby." He shows how old stereotypes associated with the most virulent forms of bigotry have been resurfacing and taking subtle new forms. From Carter to Mearsheimer, he addresses the public figures who make these beliefs appear credible. He also reveals a disturbing parallel trend: the decline of global Jewish solidarity, which he argues is critical for dealing with the current threat. Foxman advocates forthright and decisive solutions to an international crisis, ensuring that this will be an important clarion call.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In opposing the view that there is an Israel lobby with disproportionate influence on U.S. foreign policy (a view that Foxman says plays into the traditional anti-Semitic narrative about 'Jewish control' ), the national director of the Anti-Defamation League focuses on the controversial 2006 paper The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (their book of the same title will be published in September). Foxman demolishes a number of shibboleths about the lobby's power. Much of the book's second half then takes on what Foxman sees as the biases and distortions in former president Carter's Palestine Peace or Apartheid, offering evidence, for example, that Yasser Arafat, not Ehud Barak, was the obstacle to an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement at the Taba negotiations. But Foxman never really defines what the Israel lobby is, paying more attention to the ADL than to that lobby's main instrument, the America Israel Public Affairs Committee. And many will find debatable his claim that Israel has proven to be the single greatest source of stability in the region. This book succeeds far more as a rebuttal of a pernicious theory about a mythically powerful Jewish lobby than as a look at the real institutions that lobby in support of Israel or at Israel's complex role in the Middle East. (Sept.)
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Review

"Foxman demolishes a number of shibboleths . . . a rebuttal of a pernicious theory about a mythically powerful Jewish lobby."

--Publishers Weekly

 

"Today there appears to be a cottage industry of those writing about the Israeli Lobby. Most of the books to date have been neither serious nor analytical. On the contrary, they have been misleading and often fallacious, reflecting both a tendency to rewrite history and to misunderstand the policy process. Abe Foxman provides a highly readable antidote. Apart from explaining why there has been a tendency to find a simple-minded scapegoat for the troubles in American foreign policy after 9/11 and our travails in Iraq, Foxman offers a reasoned and systematic critique of what President Jimmy Carter and Professors Mearsheimer and Walt have written. More importantly, he presents useful criteria for how to shape an open, civil, and far-reaching debate on our policy toward the Middle East. Rarely has a book been more timely."

--Ambassador Dennis Ross, former American envoy to the Arab-Israeli peace process and author of Statecraft and How to Restore America's Standing in the World

 

"Abe Foxman is not merely a tribune in defense of the Jewish people against its suddenly stronger adversaries. He is a scholarly analyst of these adversaries' falsifications. Not only that:  his style is lively, decisive, and riveting."

--Marty Peretz, Editor in Chief, The New Republic

 

"Conspiracy theories are a measure of a society's mental health; when on the rise, trouble lies ahead. In The Deadliest Lies, Abraham Foxman diagnoses the 'Israel Lobby' conspiracy theory and reveals how sick it is. In doing so, he does a service to all Americans."

--Charles Hill, Distinguished Fellow in International Security Studies, Yale University

 

"Abe Foxman, one of the most passionate men in public life, has written a sober, methodical, and laudably dispassionate indictment of well-known politicians, pundits, and professors who dress up centuries-old canards about Jews in more acceptable twenty-first century garb. The impact his work will have on the credibility of the pseudo-scholarship he debunks is devastating."

--Robert Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and author of Among the Righteous

 

"Abe Foxman's new volume demonstrates it again: whenever the Jewish people or Jewish honor need to be defended, his voice is both courageously eloquent and
powerful."
--Elie Wiesel

 

Praise for Never Again?:

 

"Few would refute the power and truth behind Foxman's argument."--The New York Times Book Review

"Foxman confronts a subtle and disturbing trend with objectivity, meticulous research, and clarity."--Henry Kissinger

"Never Again? requires answers, demanding both diligence and documentation. Foxman has provided both."--The Washington Times
"Foxman reminds us that vigilance is essential to protect our communities from nightmarish futures that are all too possible."--former Senator Bill Bradley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition edition (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403984921
• ISBN-13: 978-1403984920
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

201 of 261 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Deflecting Truth is a Full Time Job for Some, September 15, 2007

By 

P. Brooks (Isle of Man, British Isles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control (Hardcover)

As has already been mentioned, this is an emotional polemic. It mostly fails to answer the substantive issues discussed by Mearsheimer and Walt, or others like Finkelstein. It is interesting that Mr. Foxman, one of the long term heavyweights of 'The Lobby', makes such a crude answer. To rely so heavily on emotive bluster is a thin answer to the growing numbers who are pointing out the destructive goat dominating the American kitchen. It would seem that he and his confederates have relied on intimidation, muscle, misdirection, and ability to purchase, for so long that they have lost the finer arts of good refutation and argument.

In my experience a majority of ordinary Jews seem to be just as embarrassed by those who profess to represent them, as we Gentiles are about our self-professed 'Deciders'. This book is likely to reinforce that discomfort.

One star for content but this book is worth reading to discover the paucity of the 'No Lobby' claim. It also gives some insight on the very pedestrian mind of one of the Lobby's musclemen.

163 of 218 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thou protesteth too much!, September 11, 2007

By 

Avner Goldman (Oak Park, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control (Hardcover)

The Deadliest Lies purports to counter the book (The Israel Lobby) authored by Mearsheimer and Walt challenging that Israel has serious fundamental flaws in its dealing with the United States, that if not corrected, serves to undermine the long-term interests of both countries. The title suggests that two of the most respected policy commentators from major universities are at best liars and at worst, pedaling something akin to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

As a member of The Lobby, Foxman's inability to deal rationally on this subject is highly questionable. The problem lies with Foxman, his personality (for lack of a better word) and the organization he commands. Combined with his unquenchable penchant for logical fallacies, this book is one of the most tedious pieces of propaganda ever published.

When countered with the cold, scientific and unemotional facts presented in the M&W book, his reactionary response is almost comical, if it weren't for the fact that he and his Anti-Defamation League has gone seriously out of its way in an attempt to ruin the reputation of two notable scholars.

New York Times writer James Traub calls Foxman's A.D.L. "an anachronism" and "a one-man Sanhedrin". This "civil rights" group spied on thousands of Americans through the use of illicit contacts in the San Francisco Police Department.

Foxman also took $250,000 from international felon Marc Rich. If all that weren't bad enough, Foxman had recently led the charge along with several other Jewish groups to deny formal recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Turks. Thanks to the power of The Lobby, these incidents are played down and Foxman and company get off scott free.

The Deadliest Lies is merely the latest extension of this sad man's prolific polemics that seek to destroy the reputation of honest men.

58 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Scream racism and deflect attention from the real debate, October 9, 2007

By 

Anthony Markus (Tamps, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control (Hardcover)

This book does more to inflame emotions than provide reasonable discussion surrounding the subject of American - Israel policy. Isn't it time that American's debated our blind support for Israel?

Also, Foxman's book bothers me because he never addresses the real underlying issues but twists comments from others so he can cry racism. Save yourself the money, pick it up at a library. His book is so easy to counter with factual arguments that he refuses to address.