...One look at Pillar’s past articles, publications and speeches puts the Newsweek screed in proper context. Pillar is a rabid Israel basher. In March 2014, he spoke at the so-called “National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel ‘Special Relationship’” where he attacked Israel on everything from its defensive military operations in Gaza to its concern over Iran’s procurement of nuclear weapons. He even attempted to downplay Iran’s threat to wipe Israel off the map claiming that it was a mere mistranslation.

More than 300 attendees gathered from all over the country, and as far away as Japan. Extra chairs had to be provided to accommodate an overflow audience, which exceeded all expectations. For more than a year, Washington Report staff worked alongside the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), the Council for the National Interest (CNI) and If Americans Knew (IAK) to assemble an array of experts who have been unsparing critics of the Israel lobby’s influence over U.S. policymaking. Even seasoned U.S.-Middle East foreign policy experts were startled to learn the extent of the damage the U.S. “special relationship” with Israel has caused to American security and prestige. More

All eight hours of the conference [National Summit] were broadcast on C-SPAN. Speaker after speaker claimed that a “Jewish lobby” was manipulating US foreign policy in the Middle East against US interests. One of them was Stephen Walt, the Harvard professor and co-author of the infamous The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy who called on participants to work to end US’s unique relationship with Israel. More

Just two weeks earlier however, an unprecedented, but fledgling effort had convened in Washington by a cadre of former U.S. political, diplomatic and military leaders to try to tamp down the affect of 60 years of growing U.S. financial, military and diplomatic support for Israel. Despite the confab of dozens of scholars and hundreds of participants, this country continues to exert enormous pressure on the Palestinians to concede to Israeli terms to win a peace settlement. More

This month, campaigner for Palestinian rights Alison Weir has scored a double against the Israel Lobby. The first goal was organizing the first-ever National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel ‘Special Relationship’. A summary of this conference by Harry Clark can be found Dissident Voice. More

The speakers did not disappoint; each was informative and spoke eloquently, with conviction, and credibly. The entire eight hours were captivating and the writer never became restless while watching the video. More

No agents of Israel have ever been embarrassed by boasting of Israel’s power in the US, or by demanding loans and aid. The protestations of American diplomats at Israel’s aggrandizement and damage to US interests have embarrassed them, not  the pro-Israel party, which has gone from strength to strength until quite recently.

This has produced a loose establishment diaspora of US diplomats, military and intelligence officers, politicians, academics and journalists critical of the US-Israel relationship, in Washington and elsewhere. More

A first-ever conference called the “National Summit to Reassess the U.S. – Israel ‘Special Relationship’” was held at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C. on Friday, and the event is now being re-broadcast on C-Span.

The conference echoed many of the controversial themes of the Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer book on ‘The Israel Lobby.’ Walt was a speaker on one of its panels.