Israel lobby controls most American politicians: Analyst

The United States’ unconditional support for Israel will not end anytime soon as most of the American politicians, regardless of their party, are controlled by the powerful Israel lobby, says a journalist and political commentator in Virginia.

Keith Preston, chief editor and director of attackthesystem.com, made the remarks while discussing US Secretary of State John Kerry’s expected visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Italian capital city of Rome.

The two are expected to discuss the ongoing Israeli settlement building while assessing the possibility of reviving the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process.”

The meeting comes as the Middle East Quartet is ready to release an important report aimed at fostering the so-called “two-state” solution.

Speaking to Press TV on Sunday, Preston said that the illegal settlements served the Tel Aviv regime’s desire for “expansionism” as the ultimate goal of its founders.

“It is important to understand that the settlements are an essential part of Israel’s foreign policy,” said Preston. “Israel is about expansionism.”

To achieve that goal, Preston said, Israeli leaders were trying to ethnically cleanse Palestinians and steal their lands in order to help the Israeli population grow.

The publication of the report by the Quartet group – the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia – has been delayed for several times, but Israeli officials say it will only be released after Netanyahu meets with Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Describing Kerry’s trip to Rome as a “smoke and mirror show,” the analyst noted that Washington “has no intention of curbing Israeli expansion.”

“So the idea that the United States would somehow renounce its decades-long policy of unqualified support for Israel and Israel’s expansionism in the region is very improbable,” Preston said.

 He said Kerry was setting up a “political cover” ahead of the report, which is expected to harshly question the settlement program.

Preston said the current balance of power in US politics, which is dominated by the Israel lobby, eliminates all chances for a fair reaction to the report in Washington.

“The Israel lobby and all of its different component parts are one of the most powerful and influential special interest groups in the United States,” he said. “Virtually all of the major politicians from both of the major parties repeatedly kowtow to the Israel lobby.”

That is why, he argued, domestic US politics need to change before the US can change its foreign policy with regards to the Israeli regime.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

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