[softy54534]

One of the most often repeated myths of Israel's detractors, as well as anti-semites in general, is the powerful "American zionist lobby". The constant claim is that this so-called powerful lobby is what pushed America to declare war on Iraq and what results in America showing "favoratism" towards Israel in the Middle East Conflict. However, below are some FACTS, rather than propaganda (or emotion), which show that the above theory does not hold water:

For starters, the total Jewish population of America is about 2%. Some estimates might be closer to 3%. The latest survey I could find when googling is for 2002 with Jews being 1.7% of the US population:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population

Now, within that small Jewish population in America, here are some of their views on Israel:

The poll of 1,700 non-Orthodox American Jews found that indicators of attachment to Israel weakened as age decreased. Among the findings:

*Less than half of Jews under 35 (48 percent) agreed that “Israel’sdestruction would be a personal tragedy.” In contrast, 78 percent of Jews over 65 said it would be a personal tragedy.

*54 percent of Jews under 35 are “comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state,” compared with 81 percent of those 65 years or over who were comfortable with the idea.

*Some 60 percent of Jews under 35 reported that “caring about Israel is an important part of being Jewish.” In the older generation, 80 percent of Jews said caring about Israel was important. Source
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2...israel_06sep06

To be sure, I am hardly comforted by the above statistics, but they just go to show that the average Jew in the US hardly wakes up in the morning worrying about Israel.

One of the organizations that the progenators of the "zionist conspiracy theory in America" always point their fingers to is AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. However, let's take a look at how much clout they have in reality. According to counterpunch (not exactly a site biased in Israel's favor), AIPAC has an annual budget of 60 million dollars:

Clearly AIPAC, with 60,000 wealthy members and $60 million annual budget, had more influence on the political behavior of the US executive, political parties and elected representatives than a federal indictment implicating its leaders for espionage on behalf of Israel. http://www.counterpunch.org/petras01072006.html

What is the total annual amount of money spent by all lobbying groups in Washington?

Corporations, industries, labor unions, governments and other interests spent a record $2.79 billion in 2007 to lobby in Washington, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has calculated. Source
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news...4/14/89108.htm

Let's see 60 million divided by 2.79 billion is a whopping 2% of the total annual national budget spent on lobbying. A lot of clout there

Now, how many Jews in America pushed America to fight Iraq? Let's take a look at what a Gallup Poll says:

77% of American Jews Oppose Iraq War. Gallup Poll. Jews Against the War http://www.mail-archive.com/cannabis.../msg00022.html

Whether one agrees with America's declared war on Iraq, one thing is for sure. It was not America's Jews who egged on America to fight it.

Lastly, another claim that many of Israel's detractors like to make is that Israel would be a nebech (helpless country) without America. Without fail, they point out the foreign aid which Israel receives from America:

Israel receives roughly about 3 billion dollars in foreign assistance from America each year Source
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html

However, Israel's GNP (Gross National Product) in 2008 was about 200 billion dollars:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/is.html

This amounts to American aid coming out to about 1.5% of the Israeli GNP. Keep in mind that 1.8 billion of that 3 billion is spent on defense, which has to be purchased in America and no where else. So that leaves about 1.2 billion that goes towards non-defensive spending.

To be sure, I, as well as most Israelis, value the American/Israeli alliance, and believe we still need each other, but let's be honest about two things:

1) America does not have an alliance with Israel because of an "American Zionist Lobby"

2) Israel would not be a nebech without America and America needs Israel, no less than Israel needs America