The Lobby: Jewish Political Power and American Foreign Policy

Tivnan, a New York journalist, presents a credible view of the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. Much of the book focuses on the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the only registered U.S. lobby for Israel, which rose from obscurity to become a force in the 1981 Capitol Hill battle over the sale of AWACS to the Saudis. Against his recap of several decades of earlier lobbying by U.S. Jews (toward the creation and support of Israel), Tivnan develops the argument that AIPAC, with national ties to local political-action committees and campus groups, has waged and virtually won a ""War for Washington,'' becoming the dominant voice of American Jews on issues that relate to Israel. In the process, Tivnan charges, AIPAC has presented U.S. Jews as neoconservatives when, in fact, many are dissenting ``doves'' on Israeli policies toward the Arabs. The author's frank discussion of Jewish political clout, and of animosities within this ``lobby,'' is bound to provoke controversy. (May 11)