US and Israel: which is calling the shots (literally?)
JVL Introduction
Is the Israel tag wagging the US dog or is it more complicated than that? Jonathan Cook writes here about common interests and also how these common interests such as the disempowering Iran come from different motives and that this can make things difficult for the US and for Israel – as well as for the rest of us, especially the people of Palestine and in Lebanon and Iran.
Cook notes that the power of the lobbies and the alignment of the deep state meant that Obama could not make much progress calling on Israel to stop settler violence and expansion. But is the tide turning? This war on Iran is not going so well for these allies and there are those in the MAGAsphere who will be keen to lay the blame on Israel rather than accept any responsibility. They will, indeed claim – as some such as Kent and perhaps also Rubio and Hegseth have already done – that all the power is with Israel and the lobby. Might the deep state then turn against the AIPACs of the world as they have in the past against those who have tried to expose them such as Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange? An additional point is how much anitsemitism will continue to be used amplifying those old tropes of “the Jews are manipulating everyone, they control everything”?
This is thought-provoking writing with much to consider – above all, how can we stop this descent into barbarism and work together for justice and peace for all?#
LL
This article was originally published by Blogpost on Fri 27 Mar 2026. Read the original here.
Does the tail wag the dog? How both sides are missing the bigger picture
Binary thinking in the argument over whether the US or Israel is driving the illegal war on Iran obscures far more than it illuminates. The truth is the dog and the tail are wagging each other
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Jonathan is his usual rational, lucid and articulate self, but I wish there was some attempt to answer the old question – “What is to be done?”
Hia analysis makes sense and describes what we see unfolding before our eyes: the barren landscape of Gaza being reproduced in Beirut; the logic of zionism extending throughout the West Bank, making notions of areas A, B and C so much flim-flam; the pseudo-lunacy of an American President whose memory is not good enough for him to be an effective liar but is smart enough to surround himself with reliable hitmen; the feeble acquiescence of a British Labour Prime Minister dressing up complicity in war crimes as prudence and indifference as virtue.
But where are we, the opposition? Is there no Labour movement muscle that can stop F-35 components being shipped to the killing zones? Has Civil Disobedience been so weakened that the clamour to stop the genocide goes unheard?
Perhaps it’s unreasonable to expect even tentative answers, but I think we have to try to turn clear sight into some kind of action.