Walter Russell Mead’s book review for Foreign Affairs outs Walt and Mearsheimer as members of the insidious pro-Israel lobby:
When it comes down to it, Mearsheimer and Walt do not seem to know who, exactly, belongs to this amoebic, engulfing blob they call the lobby and who does not. Take their own case. They describe themselves as pro-Israel, in that they believe in the state’s right to exist. They admire its achievements and wish secure and prosperous lives for its citizens. They state categorically that the United States should aid Israel “if its survival is in danger.” They frequently argue that current Israeli policies and U.S. support for them are counterproductive — that is, Washington should make its aid to Israel more conditional not because the two states do not share interests but precisely because they do. Conditional aid, Mearsheimer and Walt believe, will lead Israel to act in ways that ensure its survival while also benefiting the United States. And they care so passionately about this that they have written a long and controversial book on the subject. “We are obviously not part of the Israel lobby,” they say. But under their own definition, is that really true?
It’s always the people you least suspect.
