The Israel Lobby - Philippe Gélie of Le Figaro is unconvinced

Philippe Gélie writes in an piece in Le Figaro that the authors of The Israel Lobby missed what lies at the heart of relationship between the United States and Israel:

"In 2006, an article The Israel Lobby written by two political science professors at the Chicago University and at Harvard, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, caused a sensation. They argued that American foreign policy was being "held hostage", to the detriment of America’s own interests, by the role played by official lobbies such as AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) with its 100,000 members, neoconservatives with pro-Israel leanings, and the presence at the White House of advisors close to the Likoud (Israeli right wing political party) like Elliott Abrams. …

Other than the storm of controversy it caused, this pamphlet has had hardly any tangible effect on the United States’ position. In fact, it ignores the national consensus that lies at the heart of the alliance with Israel: a deep-seated phenomenom with historical, ideological and affective dimensions …"
Translated by Philosemite