John Mearsheimer’s Brand of Realism Reads as Blatant Antisemitism

In 2007, Walter Russell Mead penned a sharp review of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. Mead’s pen filleted the book, saying it would give “aid and comfort to anti-Semites wherever they are found.” At the same time, Mead graciously gave the book’s authors the benefit of the doubt: “All of this is deeply contrary to the intentions of the authors; written in haste, the book will be repented at leisure.” Alas, Mearsheimer did not repent.

Instead, a few years later, Mearsheimer endorsed what Mead called a “genuinely anti-Semitic book.” Mead offers varying characterizations of The Israel Lobby’s authors. Of Walt, Mead stipulates, “I think he’s wrong about why American policy is so supportive of Israel, and I think his errors confirm anti-Semites in their prejudices, but I don’t have any reason to go beyond that.” But Mearsheimer, Mead adjures, “seems to have danced with the dark side a little more intimately.” The author Mearsheimer promoted is Gilad Atzmon, who doubts the historical record on the scale and horrors of the Holocaust, blames the Jews for Adolf Hitler’s behavior, and, noted Mead, traffics in blood libel.

About the Author

Rebeccah Heinrichs

Rebeccah Heinrichs is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the director of Hudson’s Keystone Defense Initiative.

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In 2007, Walter Russell Mead penned a sharp review of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. Mead’s pen filleted the book, saying it would give “aid and comfort to anti-Semites wherever they are found.” At the same time, Mead graciously gave the book’s authors the benefit of the doubt: “All of this is deeply contrary to the intentions of the authors; written in haste, the book will be repented at leisure.” Alas, Mearsheimer did not repent.

Instead, a few years later, Mearsheimer endorsed what Mead called a “genuinely anti-Semitic book.” Mead offers varying characterizations of The Israel Lobby’s authors. Of Walt, Mead stipulates, “I think he’s wrong about why American policy is so supportive of Israel, and I think his errors confirm anti-Semites in their prejudices, but I don’t have any reason to go beyond that.” But Mearsheimer, Mead adjures, “seems to have danced with the dark side a little more intimately.” The author Mearsheimer promoted is Gilad Atzmon, who doubts the historical record on the scale and horrors of the Holocaust, blames the Jews for Adolf Hitler’s behavior, and, noted Mead, traffics in blood libel.