It is so tiresome that any reasonable critique of Israel is automatically flagged as anti-semitism and racism. They are a country like any other. Their leaders are open to criticism. Their foreign policy is too. I've only recently discovered John Mearshimer and I really appreciate his level headed analysis.

It's pretty bad when you have to start the talk with a disclaimer proclaiming your allegiance and love for Israel.

Stating the obvious. Americans should put America interests first. Why should that be controversial?

It takes immense courage to stand there and talk about this subject.

Talking bad about Israel , is not anti Semitic it’s , anti Zionism.

US giving $10,000,000+ a day to Israel as a welfare state is crazy. National infrastructure and internal issues should take precedence.

It is easier and safer to dismiss all questions and critiques as conspiracy theories, rather than to objectively study their individual points.

I was a teacher at a NYC university where people could and did criticize President Obama (and other presidents), but one world leader was NOT discussed freely: PM Netanyahu, because of intimidation and a general condemnation of anything remotely critical of Israel. This chilling effect will continue to keep Jewish Americans somewhat suspect in the eyes of those of us who want the USA to be fair and even-handed in the Middle East, and NOT a cheerleader for one side no matter how unjust and un- -American. I see the Israel Lobby as detrimental to American foreign policy as was the McCarthy era of the Fifties.

Criticizing Israel's policy is too often labeled anti semitic. I'm Christian, liberal, and I m American but grew up and lived all over the world, so I'm cosmopolitan and anything but xenophobic. Criticism of Israel to me is like criticism of the US, it is offered in good faith and it's much needed. So this talk is welcome.

if you want to know who rules over you, ask you who you are not allowed to criticize- Voltaire

"Israel lobby has chilling effect on dissenting views". *gets deplatformed* kinda proves his point, doesn't it?

Amazing all the rhetorical precautions these guys take...tells a lot.

Excellent lecture, and kudos to the University of Chicago for hosting it

America doesn't need to be going to war because it is in the interest of some other nation. We are not attack dogs, and our citizens value their lives too!

I applaud the authors for having to courage to write this book.

Remember all those UN motions condemning the settlements that were vetoed by the USA. By what imagination will you argue that that

Israel was once offered US statehood, to which Israel replied, “oh, that’s very nice of you, but would mean we’d only have 2 senators.”

America is a nation that has willingly given foxes free reign in the hen house

I think these two professors are being too polite for the truth.

Thank you and keep at it, propaganda and bullies can’t silence truth.

I am deeply impressed by clear and illuminative argumentation of both authors.

Just ban lobby groups

Mr. Mearsheimer is so intelligent, love hearing him speak.

Amazing! It's so unusual to hear objective discussion of this subject. I am surprised UKposts has not censored it. I suspect they will eventually.

I like the guy at 56:00 when he says they are overly apologetic and they bend over backwards to be defensive. Then Mearsheimer says, "Correct. And it doesn't work."

Uss liberty!!

I guess I'll never be able to be in the US government then. I find it odd that the lobby for a foreign nation can determine what I can or can't do as an American. I hold no irrational view points. I simply believe we send too much support Isreal. It should be dramatically reduced.

thx god, there're still fair people in the u.s. 💖

I'm 71 years old and grew up thinking Israel could do no wrong. I had Jewish neighbors and knew we were very much the same sort of people and had very much the same attitudes about life or at least we shared the same neighborhoods and could easily understand each other, A Jewish identity was something Jewish people had to remind me of, not something I tended to notice or even care much about. And even as a kid the schools reminded us of the abuses of the Nazi regime but it became an almost exclusively Jewish holocaust over the years and the nearly equal number of other people the Nazi's didn't want around were never really mentioned. The death camps were multifunctioning. . But in college I started to hear about the Palestinians and realized the story was not so one sided. If I did hear about it, the media made it always a case that the Palestinians were usually radicals and dangerous and the Israelis were brave defenders against persecution. Nearly 20 years later, The internet gave access to information like UN history and resolutions I had never really heard much about regarding the torturous history of Israeli-Palestinian relations that was not easy to see without it. That blew the roof off the subject and I no longer believe Israel can do no wrong. BTW - I was not interested in politics, hardly ever read newspapers and listened to TV and radio news like it was musak or semi informative wallpaper.. I know one has to tread carefully when discussing Israel and it is guaranteed aggravating and frustrating to even think about it. But I am kind of disgusted with the idea of Zionism for the simple reason one couldn't found anything like that philosophy in this country or under our constitution. European countries, and many others, may have de facto ethnic or religious identities but I don't think any of them make that identity a part of their own constitutions. The Middle East still clings to its religious and ethnic identities by law and perhaps that's the only place that Zionism can really exist? They all tend to think the same way and that's such a pity and as far I as I'm concerned and not to be admired. I feel no obligation to believe in the rightness or justice of the idea of a Jewish homeland. It may have been a source of great joy and comfort following WWII but it sure doesn't look so splendid or right today. The whole region is looking more and more like an outlier. I was born in a country where religious and ethnic identity did not guarantee one a "Homeland" with "one's kind" and I find it very hard to support others who think that is necessary. Ethnic neighborhoods have their charm but they are not really something it is very admirable to fight or die for and they probably wouldn't be at all charming if they did. We moved around a lot when I was younger and I never seemed to acquire a taste for that kind of exclusivity. It can tend to make bigotry and narrow mindedness some kind of virtue.

Mersheimer has more integrity and bigger cojones than his colleague. I mean dude spent more time throwing disclaimers, almost apologizing, than making the actual points of his presentation.

Read 'Big Israel' (Grant Smith, 2016). It's a revelation on this subject.

Oh my god haha. Ive just started looking into this a few months ago and I'm hearing more alarming things every day.

I can't believe this has only 3,605 views as of 2020

We should eliminate all special interests groups, as well as dark money, so that intellectual historians, scientists and other highly educated intellectuals, who should be a vital part of all political, economic, environmental and strategic decisions, made by our leaders are based on knowledge, and wisdom, not special financial interests…moderate, moderate and moderation is almost always the best policy, except when all efforts have failed, like WWII…great discussion!!

6 years, and only 56k views, 222 comments. I’m surprised this was even covered.

Admire your courage for talking about the elephant in the room!

I admire you both a lot for your truth and courage.

Thanks for your courage.

The reason is Christian Protestants believe Israel must exist no matter what so that Jesus will return. Preachers are responsible for driving this into most Protestants minds. These people vote for people that may not care but adopt it to get ahead in politics. It would take a very strong leader to go against this. Especially one who would be automatically attacked as antisemitic. Israeli politicians take very good advantage of this situation in the USA.

Why aren't these emeritus gentlemen at the heart of US foreign policy? Thank you for enlightenment provided?

My curious mind leads me to wonder why isreal recieves the largest share of the US foreign aid when each isreali citizen has access to free medical....free education...and their economy is in the black

The second Iraqi War cannot be divorced from the Bush family petroleum cabal and the petrodollar. Saddam Hussein had agreed to sell all the oil China wanted and not for the Petrodollar. Bush was well advised that the WMD of Iraq were in the Iran Iraq war and had been destroyed following the war. This would have generated a great loss of profits in that arrangement.

In general, people that justify their bad behaviour based on stories of past mistreatment by people you don't even know, and that think "being against them" means there's something wrong with you no matter your reasons, are the very last people you should trust.

In Georgia it is the state law you can not speak against Israel. That is wrong in America since we have a right to speak about any countries actions we want even our own.

Hats off to Steven and John for the effort!

01:40 Stephen M Walt 21:00 John J Mearsheimer 41:50 questions & answers

In political speech, the expression "American values" is frequently used. Americans' values are the values held by most of the American people and the values that American politicians would like others to believe underlie US foreign policy. One could also draw conclusions about American values from what the US government does abroad and even domestically. Americans' values and American values as discernible from the latter are very different. I think it essential that the two terms be carefully differentiated at the start of any discussion in which they are used.

It's pretty obvious and Mearsheimer is spot on

Thank you University of Chicago for allowing these wonderful gentlemen to speak. Those who try to stop ( the Israel lobbyists) them speaking largely show their hand that the Israel is now a state akin to South Africa up until it ended apartheid. I am not an Arab nor have any connections to the middle east. But I can see the grave injustice being perpetrated upon Palestinians.

The favorable assessment of Americans has no influence on Foreign Policy. Most Americans are ignorant of the issues or informed by biased media.

Very impressed with the balanced and thoughtful presentations and debate. The manner in which this discussion was held gives me hope for humanity.

Would I be right in thinking that similar powerful lobbies also exist in the UK and in Germany?

Another masterclass Dr. John J. Mearsheimer and Co. are your preferred ''stay home and open your eyes'' lecturers during the pandemic

so many feelings, but thank you for this

"...they're in a class by themselves." So was Atilla and the Huns.

Those there are true scholars that contribute to Political Sciences and International Relations. It is the dutu of each one of us If we are scholars to tell the truth and only the truth. Words cannot describe their courage and they need to not be scared from anyone because they are American Patriots defending American Interests.

Israel receives annually $ 3.8 billion...just like that 🤣 compared to Egypt that only gets $130 million

I want to quote one questioner: "A magnificent presentation!"

Very good discussion and perfect long term perspective from 51:00 !

These highly-intellectual guys should've been running the State Department a long time ago. Just look at the mess we are at with the Russians and Chinese now.

Thank you so much.

Wars are not fought to spread "liberal democracy". Wars are always fought over resources (natural, human, etc.) "Democracy", "religion", and "nationalism" are only used to rally the troops before the battle. Suggesting that Western/US oil companies had no interest in regime change in Iraq is just as ludicrous as saying that overthrow of Mosaddegh in Iran in 1953 was not about oil. Denying that the US is an imperialist state interested ONLY in securing access to resources (or denying access to states that might be potential competitors) is silly. These gentlemen either cannot or do not want to tell the truth, perhaps a paycheck continuation strategy on their part.

I am greatly inspired by the discussion and the policy prescribed by J J Spearhimer which is realistic and will be best for the Israelis and Palestinian people and the middle East and the world.

The Israeli lobby has tremendous influence but most of that influence ironically isn't because of Jews per se. It's because a large segment of Christian evangelicals think by being uber-zionists they are fulfilling Christian biblical prophecy. Without that religious support, the Israeli lobby group would still have influence but at more normalized levels. Where some Jewish Israeli nationalists groups play dirty is smearing anyone that criticizes Israeli government policies towards minorities as "anti-semitism" then applying economic and political pressure to critics (as Mearsheimer himself was attacked for stating captain obvious). This behavior is typically coming from rightwing uber-Zionists very often ones that are Orthodox. Leftwing Jews, who are typically principled on issues related to human rights (including Israel) are smeared as "self-hating Jews" by both by segment of rightwing Christians and Jews alike (although there are exceptions to this rule, see "liberals" like Alan Dershowitz)

The very first section, about how many times they were cancelled, and dropped from publications, is absolutely chilling. No screams of 'Cancel Culture' from the usual far-right crew.

John J Mearsheimer "During the 1998-1999 academic year, he was the Whitney H. Shepardson Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York." Every fucken time.....

9/11 Commission Report? - A VERY RELIABLE SOURCE, INDEED!

Walt is like walking on egg-shells, scared of uttering something that might lead to him being accused of anti-Semitism! So much for expecting anything from American intelligentsia. Sigh

I've watched many of John Mearsheimer's YT videos, especially those related to the critical issue of China's impact on the global future, but never have I seen him as defensive as in this entry.

I am moved beyond words by the courage and persistence of the authors for upholding American values and shedding light on important issues.

WELL SAID

true and great job

Great and informative perspective presented! It's just disgusting that you guys have people stifling your talks by having your venues cancelled.

Amazing!

A Clean Break................anyone?

The power of the Holocaust Card, et al. Time to move on as these discussions do. It might be much more honest now to make Israel the 51st state. Each time I must pass through the airport, I think of this.

I like this video keep going 🤠 greeting from Morocco*

1:11:30 for the record, toilet paper is not that much a thing in Islamic countries, they mostly use water pressure.

These fearless and courageous men are true Americans, unfortunately, there are very very very few of them left, the rest are just robots.

I think it's interesting that they openly acknowledge the theological motivations of Christian Zionists, but present Jewish motivation as purely political in nature (at least in this talk) Also, the proposed remedy at 1:02:44 (campaign finance reform, which he says won't happen; open discussion of the issues/open discourse; waiting for moderate groups in the Israel lobby to become more influential while hoping hard-line groups recognize that the current policies they support are detrimental) seems *really* insufficient. I understand that they're being cautious, and that despite this extreme caution they're still attacked, vilified, and sidelined from mainstream intellectual discourse, but to any thinking person the extremeness of this caution should indicate that pro-Israel/Jewish lobbying groups have influence that *FAR* exceeds the political sphere, and that they have no intention to abide by ideals of "open discourse", and that they in fact have been very successful at attacking such ideals, much to the detriment of the U.S. democratic process.

Too many disclaimers for doing a sensible critique...The "values" thing is so vague, it doesn't hold water.

The second speaker has researched more than the public media. Much of the first speaker's research leaned heavily on public media.

Di Caprio movie Blood Diamond has a diamond king in London but it is fiction. The biggest high tech business in Israel is diamond cutting. New York is a hub of the diamond business as well as financing arms trade.

Perhaps they should do a presentation about the influence George Sorros has in the USA and include his Co-conspirators. It would be a very interesting subject.

ADL monitors these comment fields, too ...

Awesome courage! because the truth hurts.

It takes strength to stand up against the evil and lies of powerful oppressors, we pray for Forgiveness of our Lord for all who stood against the lies, evil and oppressions of the West and Israel.

Why address Jerusalem concerning the retreat of the illegal settlements in Palestine....when Tel Aviv is the capital?

Great lecture, and very honest discussion.

People really need to be allowed a moment to finish asking their questions. No one has been out-of-line in grabbing the floor unnecessarily. So what if not everyone can take the mic?

I wonder what Norm Filkenstein would say , about this video ?

This was super entertaining, thank you! I got a couple good laughs.

There should be absolutely no foreign lobbies allowed.

Israel is working to serve its brutal colonial interest in Palestine, capitalising the power and shadow of USA. The earlier the US perceives it, better it is for the humanity. A presentation, that has enriched me. Thanks

Egypt is getting $2.8...and Israel $3.8...what for? To keep the peace ✌️ and keep them well armed?

If the 1967 borders were a viable option they wouldn't have changed would they?

Very good

Everyone day comes

A similar situation is happening with NATO where colonizers enjoy unconditional support of US making us abominable to the world. While US sustain unconditional support to foreign nations with mischievous agendas, America isn't free. No matter how hard we, regular folks protest injustice, our voices are not heard. And US looses its real power, which is to stand for freedom and justice around the world.

It’s long overdue for someone to write a book about the influence of the Ukrainian Lobby in the US and Canada, especially the ties to actual neo-Nazi groups within Ukraine.