This week George Bush is to speak at the "President’s Conference" in Israel, which is titled "Facing Tomorrow" and being led by a thinktank called the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute. One of JPPPI’s chief concerns is the "erosion" of Jewish demography worldwide due to intermarriage and other factors. I.e., fewer Jews. This must be looked at "urgent"ly, JPPPI says, because of "the implications of demography for Israel’s standing in a prolonged situation of military and political conflict." My emphasis. This means, when there are not many Jews in America, the Israel lobby loses strength, and who will Israel turn to? And what is meant by times of "political conflict"? All the time.
Dennis Ross is the chair of JPPPI. A year or so back I heard him argue, at Cooper Union in New York, [and here, on NPR] that Walt and Mearsheimer’s thesis was bunk, and that maybe the Israel lobby affected Congress, but surely not White House policy. I never found Ross’s argument to be believable. His thinktank’s "urgent" concern suggests he doesn’t believe it either.
