The Israel Lobby--Is It Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy:

Register today online for "The Israel Lobby" conference at http://IsraelLobbyUS.org

"The Israel Lobby" is an all-day conference which will take place April 10 in the National Press Club ballroom in Washington, DC. In addition to posing the question, "Is It Good for the US?" Israeli and American speakers will also ask, "Is It Good for Israel?" 

Americans and Israelis are beginning to question whether Washington's unconditional support for Israel perpetuates the decades-long failure to achieve peace and stability in the region.

The United States has provided Israel with at least $115 billion in economic and military aid—$239 billion adjusted for inflation—through 2014. The US protects Israel diplomatically, often casting almost the lone dissenting vote against Palestinian UN initiatives while pressuring other states to do the same. America has looked the other way as nuclear material, technology and know-how vital to building and maintaining a nuclear arsenal have flowed to Israel.

But how beneficial to Israel is such largesse and unconditional support?

Questions to be addressed by expert speakers include:

1. Does its US lobby make it possible for Israel to avoid achieving peace with its neighbors, including Palestinians?
2. Is Israel's lack of regional economic integration sustainable over coming decades?
3. Is the Iranian nuclear program the existential threat for Israel and the West it is portrayed to be in the US?
4. Do American Israel lobby donors who fund Israeli and US political campaigns and media outlets promote extremism?
5. Why does the lobby constantly conflate Judaism and Israel?
6. Why is criticism of Israeli policies acceptable in Israel but shut down on American college campuses and in the mainstream media and arts?

The conference is co-sponsored by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, published by the American Educational Trust, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, Inc (IRmep).   

The conference includes luncheon and is open to members of the public and news media who register in advance. Early-bird special discount tickets to this event are available until January 31 at http://israellobbyus.org/register/

Follow us on Twitter @IsraelLobbyUS or Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/USIsraelLobby

For more information contact [email protected]

SOURCE Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy