George Soros is a smart man. He made billions by anticipating (and sometimes manipulating) international currency flows. He has started a variety of charities, some noble (usually overseas) and some despicable (usually in the U.S.). More recently, Soros became a major financier of the campaign to defeat President Bush in 2004 and of a resurgent Democratic Left that went on to enjoy significant electoral victories in 2006.

Being smart, Soros must have known that this piece would provide further ammunition to those who consider him at best a prominent Jewish pawn of Israel’s enemies and at worst an anti-Semitic loon. So he included a conclusion, also placed above as a subhead, that tries to preempt the criticism: “Anticipating attacks, I should like to emphasize that I do not subscribe to the myths propagated by enemies of Israel and I am not blaming Jews for anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism predates the birth of Israel.” The problem is that he doesn’t specify which myths he doesn’t subscribe to.

The “pro-Israel lobby” in the U.S., according to Soros, operates as a sort of thought police:

Politicians challenge it at their peril because of the lobby’s ability to influence political contributions. When Howard Dean called for an evenhanded policy toward Israel in 2004, his chances of getting the nomination were badly damaged (although it was his attempt, after his defeat in Iowa , to shout above the crowd that sealed his fate). Academics had their advancement blocked and think-tank experts their funding withdrawn when they stepped too far out of line. Following his criticism of repressive Israeli policy on the West Bank , former president Jimmy Carter has suffered the loss of some of the financial backers of his center.

And then consider this odd passage:

Whether the Democratic Party can liberate itself from AIPAC’s influence is highly doubtful. Any politician who dares to expose AIPAC’s influence would incur its wrath; so very few can be expected to do so. It is up to the American Jewish community itself to rein in the organization that claims to represent it. But this is not possible without first disposing of the most insidious argument put forward by the defenders of the current policies: that the critics of Israel ‘s policies of occupation, control, and repression on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem and Gaza engender anti-Semitism.
The opposite is the case. One of the myths propagated by the enemies of Israel is that there is an all-powerful Zionist conspiracy. That is a false accusation. Nevertheless, that AIPAC has been so successful in suppressing criticism has lent some credence to such false beliefs. Demolishing the wall of silence that has protected AIPAC would help lay them to rest. A debate within the Jewish community, instead of fomenting anti-Semitism, would only help diminish it.

So, accusing the “pro-Israel lobby” of pervasive and nefarious influence over American politics and universities, and using the accusations to bludgeon AIPAC and politicians it supports, would prove to the world that Zionism isn’t all-powerful and thus combat anti-Semitism? Wow.