The Kissinger Call

by Cliopatria

Henry Kissinger's statement that Soviet Jews being sent to the gas chamber wouldn't be a matter for American foreign policy has received a lot of attention. I posted the excerpt, with audio, here. The comment occurs as part of a 3-plus minute conversation on the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which sought to tie mfn trade status for the USSR with a liberalization of Soviet emigration for Jews.

Among other noteworthy items in the clip: Kissinger's shameless flattery of Nixon; Kissinger's accusing American Jews of"behaving traitorously" (shades of Stephen Walt!) for backing the amendment; and, in a crude conversation with anti-semitic overtones, Nixon accusing other politicians of being" crude" and"anti-semitic."

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Ralph E. Luker - 12/15/2010

Referring to Walt in a comment on Kissinger does *nothing* to illuminate what Kissinger said. It only becomes an opportunity to smear Walt yet one more time. "far left" as a descriptor of positions critical of an Israeli administration's positions is nonsense. Left/Right simply doesn't illuminate anything about American attitudes toward Israeli/Palestinian issues.

Robert KC Johnson - 12/14/2010

The basic premise of The Israel Lobby is that American Jews have been trying & succeeding to organize US foreign policy to serve the interests of another nation. I used "shades of" in the post because Kissinger's argument, as I understood it, was less inflammatory than Walt's--K. was suggesting that American Jews were placing the interests of foreign Jews over that of their own country, rather than the interests of another nation over their own country.

That said, as Jon Chait has pointed out, Walt does seem to have an ideological loyalty test for American Jews (that they're sufficiently far-left on issues related to Israel) that Kissinger didn't have.

Ralph E. Luker - 12/14/2010

KC, Please cite a location for Stephen Walt's accusation of Jews "behaving traitorously". It has nothing to do with Kissinger and, without a citation, is a gratuitous refusal to engage with what Walt actually does say.