When academic and author Walter Russell Mead gave lectures as a guest speaker for the State Department to audiences around the world, he was surprised by recurring misperceptions about American Jews, the U.S. government and Israel.
“People were constantly arguing that somehow American policy toward Israel was radically different than policies toward other countries and the only possible explanation was that the American Jewish community—maybe with some help from the evangelical Christians—was influencing the American policy discussion,” Mead said. “It just did not make sense to me, I have to say.”
Mead has written a new book in response—“The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.” At over 600 pages, the book is a comprehensive examination of American policy toward Israel and Zionism, as well as a rebuttal of antisemitic beliefs about the perceived influence of the American Jewish community.
