The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: second intifada, United States, Middle East, Tony Judt (more...)

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

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (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: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #384,704 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

165 of 214 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)

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.

132 of 179 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Avner Goldman (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

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.

193 of 272 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A faulti logic - should get zero stars, September 6, 2007

By	Joshua Ashenberg (Acton, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book denies the existence of the Israel Lobby, as suggested by the title: The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby. The book is obviously trying to be a counterweight to Mearsheimer and Walt book The Israel Lobby which I found accurate, comprehensive, condensed, and academically meticulous (although a bit soft on Israel), with many supporting references. Foxman's book, on the other hand, is much thinner, sparse, lousily and emotionally written, with small amount of supporting references, mostly affiliated with the Lobby, and worse, full with half truths (A half-truth is a whole lie - Yiddish proverb). Small examples, it claims that the Lobby has nothing to do with the Iraq war since the lobbying for the war was before 911 and the attack was after...It says that there were others who supported the war, like Bush... It says that not only the Lobby, but also the UN, is concerned about Iran nuclear program, but it fails to mention who is making the case for attacking Iran. It is simply full of faulty logic mistakes, assuming that the reader is naïve or ignorant. Basically it looks as a hasty response to Mearsheimer/Walt with no evidential base. In the best case, it is a badly written historical fiction.
Denying the existence of the Israel Lobby is in at the same category as writing books like: The Deadliest Lies: The Copernican Heliocentric System and the existence of Gravitation, or The Deadliest Lie: The Armenian genocide. (recall Mr. Foxman's record on this denial). It is like denying the existence of New York; but I've been there and I am quite confident that it exists. Moreover, the book itself is evidence of the existence of the Israel lobby. Just look who is the author and who are the people who praise the book; they all belong to the Israel Lobby. Israel Lobby activists who deny the Lobby's existence are an equivalent to Descartes's declaring: "I think therefore I am not".
Personally, I have followed the Israel Lobby for years, including reading the Hebrew editions of Israeli newspapers; it is well known in Israel that it has an influential lobby at the US (An Israeli joke: An Israeli politician proposed joining the USA as the 51st state. "Are you mad?" his colleagues retorted, "if we were another state, we would have two senators and a few congressmen. Now we have at least 80 senators and hundreds of congressmen!"). I know well its influence over the past forty years, with the climax of its successful lobbying for the Iraq war and the current lobbying for attacking Iran. If one has any doubt on this, he or she should read Rosner's Domain in the Israeli Haaretz. It proudly describes how the elect-ability of our representatives in Washington is conditioned on their pro-Israel stand, especially their statements in AIPAC conferences, and their 'educational' visits to Israel. One of the mechanisms of this lobby is attacking anybody who points out the naked truth of its existence and influence (as Mearsheimer and Walt have done) and using Antisemitism as their weapon of mass defamation. This book is another instance of this strategy. If you believe that you should read any nonsense, then read this book. Otherwise, ignore it, as you would ignore a math book that claims that calculus is a conspiracy.