Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000

The 1996 Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000 for the Washington, DC/Israel-based think tank Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies "advised Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu 'to work closely with Turkey and Jordan to contain, destabilize, and roll back' regional threats, help overthrow [Saddam] Hussein, and strike 'Syrian military targets in Lebanon' and possibly in Syria proper." [1][2]

Study Group Members

The Study Group was comprised of the following members: [3]

• Richard Perle, American Enterprise Institute, Study Group Leader
• James Colbert, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA)
• Charles Fairbanks, Jr., Johns Hopkins University/SAIS
• Douglas J. Feith, Feith and Zell Associates
• Robert Loewenberg, President, Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies
• Jonathan Torop, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• David Wurmser, Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies
• Meyrav Wurmser, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

Perle, Wurmser, and Feith "helped set the Middle East strategy, including strong support for [Ariel] Sharon's hardline policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in the Bush II administration. Perle chaired the DOD's Defense Policy Board, Feith became undersecretary of defense for policy, and Wurmser became Vice President [Dick] Cheney's top Middle East adviser after leaving the State Department where he worked under Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton." [4]

Report

In 1996, the Study Group produced the report "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm".

On Iraq

"Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right — as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions. Jordan has challenged Syria's regional ambitions recently by suggesting the restoration of the Hashemites in Iraq. This has triggered a Jordanian-Syrian rivalry to which Asad has responded by stepping up efforts to destabilize the Hashemite Kingdom, including using infiltrations. Syria recently signaled that it and Iran might prefer a weak, but barely surviving Saddam, if only to undermine and humiliate Jordan in its efforts to remove Saddam." (Emphasis added.) [5]

Commentary on the Report

"This document is remarkable for its very existence because it constitutes a policy manifesto for the Israeli government penned by members of the current US government. From the perspective of a reader of this document and from one who has also watched its program unfold during the course of the Bush administration," William James Martin wrote July 1, 2004, in CounterPunch, "one can best view the confluence and the inseparability of the Israeli and the American governments."

"This document advocates the scrapping of UN Resolutions 242 and 338 - the 'land for peace' formula - in favor of one based on the 'balance of power'. Since Israel possesses the 4th largest army in the world with essentially unlimited weaponry, unrestrictedly provided by the US, and since the Palestinians have no army at all, the 'balance of power' formula application simply means that Israel should respect no constraints of its expansionist aspirations. Indeed, the authors state, 'Only the unconditional acceptance by Arabs of our rights, especially in their territorial dimensions, peace for peace, is a solid basis for the future.' Surely this also means 'the unconditional acceptance of the Israel's unilateral definition of Israel's rights'," Martin wrote.

"The authors go on to affirm the continued commitment of Israel to overthrowing Saddam Hussein in Iraq both because Saddam Hussein poses a direct threat to Israel and in order to exert pressure on Syria whom the authors feel poses an equal threat to Israel. The authors also advocate 'Striking Syrian military targets in Lebanon, and should that prove insufficient, striking at select targets in Syria proper'," Martin wrote.

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Center for Security Policy
• civil war in Iraq
• Committee on the Present Danger
• fascism
• Michael Ledeen
• neoconservative
• Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Project for the New American Century
• regime change

• regime change in Syria

• The Cheney-Rumsfeld Cabal Deception
• violence in the Middle East
• war in Iran

External links

General

• A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm in the Wikipedia and a copy of the Report posted by truthout.

Undated

• "The Cheney Gang," MiddleEast.org, undated.
• Articles by Charles Rogers Montoya posted by Students for a Democratic Society, 2000 and beyond.

2002

• Jason Vest, "The Men From JINSA and CSP," The Nation, August 15, 2002 (September 2, 2002 issue).

2003

• Justin Raimondo, "A 'Toxic' Meme? Israel's 'amen corner' is cornered," Antiwar.com, February 19, 2003.
• Policy Brief: "Clean Break or Dirty War? Israel’s Foreign Policy Directive to the United States," Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, Inc., March 27, 2003.
• Max Abrahms, "A Window of Opportunity for Israel?" Middle East Forum / Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2003.
• Julian Borger, "The spies who pushed for war. ... on the shadow rightwing intelligence network set up in Washington to second-guess the CIA and deliver a justification for toppling Saddam Hussein by force," The Guardian (UK), July 13, 2003.
• Kurt Nimmo, "Shock Therapy and the Israel Scenario," Dissident Voice, October 14, 2003.
• Jim Lobe, "New Cheney Adviser Sets Syria In His Sights," Antiwar.com, October 21, 2003; AlterNet, October 22, 2003.
• "The 'Clean Break' Plan: Implications for US Middle East Policy," Broadcast by C-Span (Information Clearing House), November 26, 2003.

2004

• Karen Kwiatkowski, "Open Door Policy. A strange thing happened on the way to the war," The American Conservative, January 19, 2004.
• William James Martin, "A Foreign Policy Serving Israel. Clean Break with the Road Map," CounterPunch, February 14/15, 2004.
• Patrick Plitnick, "Can Sharon win by force?" ZMag.org, April 21, 2004.
• William James Martin, "The Dogma of Richard Perle. Zionism and Legal Skepticism," CounterPunch, July 1, 2004.
• Tom Barry, "Douglas Feith: Portrait of a Neoconservative," Antiwar.com, September 15, 2004.

2005

• Charles Glass, "From Beirut to Damascus," The Nation, November 10, 2005 (November 28, 2005 issue).

2007

• Hesham Tillawi, "All aboard the Arab Holocaust Train; Operated by Israel-Atlantic Union," CurrentIssues.tv, January 2007.
• NAJ, "Why is Israel Cheering America to War?" Neo-Resistance Blogspot, February 28, 2007.
• Dr. Abbas Bahktiar,"Is It Time For War Or Peace In The Middle East?" Scoop (New Zealand), March 19, 2007.
• Manuel Valenzuela, "The Unearthing: An Awakening Has Arrived. With Truth Comes Awakening," Information Clearing House, May 3, 2007.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Cheney Attempting to Constrain Bush's Choices on Iran Conflict: Staff Engaged in Insubordination Against President Bush," The Washington Note, May 24, 2007.
• Lisa Myers and Robert Windrem, "NBC: CIA warned of risks of war in the Mideast. Pre-war reports say agency predicted dangers of toppling Saddam's regime," MSNBC, May 25, 2007.