Leading Jewish blogger Phil Weiss thinks the current Gaza strikes will “help end the Israel lobby“:
It’s just a theory, and yes I’m an optimist. But the grotesque events in Gaza rise above, well, the previous grotesque events in Gaza. And here is the great Glenn Greenwald attacking Marty Peretz for his disgusting rationalization of the slaughter. And note that Greenwald goes on to the Real Enemy here: the “suffocating” orthodoxy of our politicians on Israel/Palestine and the “total abdication” of political responsibility. Honey, it’s breaking up. Iraq and its lesson that terrorism arises from political disfranchisement is going to be applied to I/P under Obama. The Israel lobby is starting to fracture. “J Street”‘s brave statement is huge. Just watch, you will see some major delamination in the days to come specifically on the suffocating orthodoxy issue. Jeffrey Goldberg will come over to our side. Or Tom Friedman. It’s gonna happen, because Israel has completely lost the ability to imagine its future, witness Gaza, and who has been right about this again and again? The marginalized “left,” from realist Mearsheimer to Ian Lustick, let alone anti-Zionist Jews and Arabs. And because history does not repeat itself. If Israel expects to do Lebanon II, it is going to find that it won’t get the political cover it did 2 years ago.
I wish I was so optimistic. There are undoubtedly more voices of dissent in the US against Israeli actions, though predominantly in the liberal blogosphere. The White House and (probably) Barack Obama act like it’s still 1967. Israel can do no wrong. Killing hundreds of Palestinians for no real purpose is the Jewish state’s right.
So what has changed on the ground in Palestine?