In the Grip of a Foreign Power: America and the Israel Lobby

Professor emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and a specialist in the history and politics of the modern Middle East, Ian Lustick speaks to Margot Patterson about his and Eli Clifton's new book, Israel's Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power. Lustick says the Israel lobby has changed significantly since 2007 when Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt published their ground-breaking book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. The existence and influence of the lobby can no longer be denied nor can Israel's policies be publicly defended, Lustick says. He discusses how changes both in the United States and in the world have affected the Israel lobby, altered its strategy and made it more dangerous to Americans' freedom.