Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said a book arguing that the Israel lobby does not represent U.S. interests is “dead wrong.”
“Although Mr. Obama had not read the book, he was familiar with its arguments and disagreed with them,” a statement from the campaign said, referring to the book “The Israel Lobby” by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard University.
“Senator Obama has stated that his support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, which includes both a commitment to Israel’s security and to helping Israel achieve peace with its neighbors, comes from his belief that it’s the right policy for the United States. The idea that supporters of Israel have somehow distorted U.S. foreign policy, or that they are responsible for the debacle in Iraq, is just wrong.”
Obama is a front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential candidacy.
