The Israel Lobby (by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt) was first an article published by Harvard and the London Review of Books (you can read that version here: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html).
In the face of both the outrage and success which surrounded this first draft, the authors went on to writing a full book on the subject (published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2007).
While acknowledging that lobbies (whether this one or any other) are a legitimate way of expressing ideas and interests in a democratic regime, Walt and Mearsheimer denounce the identity which has been created by the Israel lobby (AIPAC, ADL...) between Israeli and American interests.
In short, their point is that the Israel lobby (which -they rightly insist- is far from identical to the American Jewish population or even to Jewish interest groups) should be recognized for what it is: a lobby dedicated to promoting the interests of a foreign country in order to influence the making of America's foreign policy.
And that's fine (in fact, it is somewhat necessary). But, as such, the Israel lobby should not be perceived by the American public (or try to pass off) as defending the United States' interests in the world.
In some cases, the United States and Israel might have common interests. Most of the time though (on issues such as Iran, Palestine, Lebanon) that is not the case. That's why it shouldn't look like it.
The point here is not to say the Israel lobby isn't legitimate. It is! The point is that each American citizen should know what it really stands for, and choose from there whether to support it (and the leaders who do) or not.
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