Political Ventriloquism: Israeli Puppeteers, American Dummies

The late television comedian Edgar Bergen was notable for never saying anything witty himself. Two small boy-men who sat on Bergen's knee were the comic duo on the Edgar Bergen Show. Smart-aleck Charlie McCarthy was the ridiculously amorous man-about-town. Country bumpkin Mortimer Snerd excited indulgent laughter every week by exceeding in naive stupidity his performance of the week before.

The public knew that McCarthy and Snerd were only made of cloth, wood and leather. They understood that Bergen manipulated their movements and put words into their mouths with his ventriloquist's art. Yet for purposes of the show the public deemed the puppets to be alive, and eagerly followed their TV misadventures.

Bergen, McCarthy and Snerd are long gone. A new type of ventriloquism, confusing to the public because the puppets actually are alive, is now hyperactive in the media and Congress. This is political ventriloquism, perfected into a high art by the Israel Lobby, as ventriloquist, and a host of political and media puppets ready to praise Israel lavishly and, as the cost of the U.S.-Israel connection rises, extol with ever-increasing fervor its supposed value to the United States. Flesh and blood dummies, motivated not by strings, but by money.

Political ventriloquism was perhaps best personified by the late James McDonald, first U.S. Ambassador to Israel. A tall, elegant Scottish-American aristocrat, WASP McDonald was a persuasive purveyor of Israeli mythology to Christian America. In 1948-49, when Israel was grabbing an extra one-fourth of Palestine over that already awarded it by the United Nations, and terrorizing nearly 800,000 Palestinians into fleeing their homes, McDonald lulled American opinion with claims that Israel was the victim of "Arab aggression" and that the Palestinians had departed only because their leaders had told them to.

For years before his appointment as U.S. Ambassador, McDonald had been on the payroll of the World Zionist Organization. The public, of course, didn't know this. What they saw, or thought they saw, was a man whose looks, personal style and obvious Christian heritage made him a persuasive interpreter for the Jewish state. If McDonald said it was right, it must be. Later he discredited himself by becoming too obviously pro-Israeli. At a critical time, however, when Israel's behavior towards the Palestinians was extremely brutal, McDonald gave credibility to a series of Israeli falsehoods, painting the Arabs as the aggressors when, in fact, heavily-armed Jewish militias were taking over Arab homes, orchards, villages and towns, and not vice versa.

Honoraria and Political Action Committees (PACs) have become the key words in political ventriloquism. Both spell big money for politicians ready to provide billions in annual gifts to the State of Israel and tell fellow Congressmen, the media and live audiences that this constitutes an excellent bargain for the United States.

Jewish politicians are expected to speak out strongly for Israel. But Christians, especially well-known Senators, are Israel's speech-making superstars. They are apparently deemed to have greater credibility when, on behalf of the Israel Lobby, they tell the American public that tiny Israel's military might keep the Soviet Union out of the Middle East; the few billion we give Israel is far less than we spend on NATO to hold the Russians at bay in Europe; that Israel is America's most loyal ally; and that Israel is a fellow democracy seeking peace, peace, peace. Honoraria for such speeches run from $1,500 to $3,000. An active star may vastly increase his Senate salary.

Although the money is good, the line must be adhered to rigorously. Former Senator Gale McGee of Wyoming had almost paid off the campaign debt from his first Senate race in the 1950s by extolling in speeches the virtues of Israel, in which he genuinely believed at that time. He then visited a former schoolmate in the Arab world, where he saw Palestinian refugees at first hand. McGee's broader perspective surfaced in his next speech. Boom! His invitations to speak and his honoraria stopped for good.

For politicians willing to follow a script faithfully, whether they believe it or not, honoraria are only a trickle compared to the rivers of money flowing from innocuously labeled Jewish Political Action Committees. Between 50 and 100 of these now raise five to six million dollars a year for pliable Senators and Congressmen serving on key foreign affairs, military affairs and appropriations committees.

These committees divert four to five billion dollars a year to the State of Israel. The Jewish PACs, the very engine of the Israel Lobby, return far more than the Biblical seven-fold for those who "cast their bread upon the waters." For every million dollars given to Congressional puppets, almost a billion dollars is voted for Israel, a ratio of a thousand to one.

Politicians who refuse to play puppet to the Israel Lobby ventriloquist-even those who stray only once from the designated path such as Senator Charles Percy who voted some years ago to sell the American AWACS flying radar system to Saudi Arabia-are marked for extinction. Senator Percy, his predecessor as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator J. William Fulbright), and Representatives Paul N. (Pete) McCloskey and Paul Findley are examples of outstanding statesmen who refused to put the desires of the Lobby before the interests of their constituents and were defeated in large part by strong Lobby opposition.

Political ventriloquism may, however, be on the decline. Jewish PACs have to pay ever-increasing sums to keep politicians compliant, and they take increasing precautions to conceal their identities as one-issue pro-Israel PACs from public view. This represents the Lobby's assessment that the American people would reject the buying of politicians on behalf of Israel, if they understood what's going on.

The Lobby's campaign to prevent the publication and distribution of Congressman Findley's book, They Dare to Speak Out, has failed miserably as the print run approaches the 100,000 mark. Findley recounts dozens of examples of underhanded Lobby tactics to browbeat politicians, journalists and academics, including intimidation of publishers who were interested in his book.

The most hopeful indicator is that far-seeing American Jews, including many Zionists, are growing uneasy that the Lobby is now providing more American support than Israel can safely digest, and far more than will eventually be tolerated by an informed American electorate.

—By Andrew I. Killgore

Andrew I. Killgore, former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, retired after 32 years in the Foreign Service. He is now a political and economic consultant in Washington, D.C., and also president of the American Educational Trust.