Paul Findley - Criticism of US-Israel Relations

Criticism of US-Israel Relations

Findley is a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy regarding Israel. In 1985, Findley wrote the best selling book "They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby" in which he states that the pro-Israel lobby, notably AIPAC, has vast undue influence over the United States Congress. He refers to the lobby as "the 700-pound gorilla in Washington". He closes his book with this plea:

The government of the United States must assert, at long last, its own national interests in the Middle East.... The world views our nation - accurately - as Israel's essential partner in its military adventurism and its suppression of human rights. America must clear its good name of this complicity.... The next logical U.S. steps: declare that the people in occupied territories have the right to self-determination and, if they choose, independent statehood; demand that Israeli forces cease the detention of Palestinians without due process, as well as halt the beatings of Palestinians, the destruction of their homes and the use of plastic bullets and other lethal weapons against them; demand that new Israeli settlements in the occupied territories be prohibited. The United States has ample leverage with which to force compliance with these demands. At some point - the sooner the better - the United States must issue a clear ultimatum: notify the Jewish state that all U.S. aid will cease unless Israel, in exchange for border guarantees, withdraws its forces from Arab territories."

The Washington Post reviewing "They Dare to Speak Out" said: "Stripped of all the maudlin martyrdom, former congressman Paul Findley's message is straightforward and valid: Israeli influence in the United States, including in the inner sanctums of government, is very strong." The New York Times review by Adam Clymer, described the book as "an angry, one-sided book that seems often to be little more than a stringing together of stray incidents ... does not really accept the idea that people of any political point of view are entitled to organize, support their friends and try to defeat the people they think are their enemies".

Findley lists the Israeli lobby as one of the factors contributing to his narrow defeat in 1982, alongside the serious national recession of 1982 and the substantial change of his district's boundaries after the 1980 census. "In seeking gains for Israel, they rigorously stifled dissent and intimidated the entire Congress. They still do. They defeat legislators who criticize Israel. Senators Adlai Stevenson III and Charles H. Percy, and Representatives Pete McCloskey, Cynthia McKinney, Earl F. Hilliard, and myself were defeated at the polls by candidates heavily financed by pro-Israel forces. McKinney alone was able to regain her seat in Congress." (McKinney lost her seat again two years later.)

Findley spoke to NPR about the publication of Mearsheimer and Walt's controversial 2006 working paper, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy : "You can't imagine how pleased I was I think I can pose as a foremost expert on the lobby for Israel, because I was the target the last three years I was in Congress."