Chas Freeman and the ‘Israel Lobby’
The withdrawal of Obama’s choice for chief intelligence analyst
A “ferocious” debate over the alleged power of “the Israel Lobby” raged in 2006, after two professors wrote a book of the same name, said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. The furor re-erupted when President Obama picked former Ambassador Charles (Chas) Freeman to head the National Intelligence Council. He withdrew Tuesday, blaming what he called the dishonorable and dishonest “tactics of the Israel Lobby.”
Not the Israel Lobby “conspiracy theory” again, said The Washington Post in an editorial. Freeman—who said the Chinese should have crushed the Tiananmen Square protesters sooner and offered “sycophantic paeans” to Saudi King Abdullah—was always a bad choice. But his “crackpot” departing “screed” against the mythical “shadowy and sinister ‘Lobby’” made it clear how bad.
Anti-China and, yes, pro-Israel lobbyists did sink Freeman, said David Broder in The Washington Post. And they deprived us of a very able and “smart as hell” intelligence analyst. Freeman’s abrupt pullout is an embarrassment for Obama and for his intelligence chief, Adm. Dennis Blair, who picked and defended Freeman, but it’s also “the country’s loss.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Freeman is indeed very capable, and his critics did use his statements out of context, “in some cases wildly so,” said Fred Kaplan in Slate. But Obama was right to cut him loose. Freeman was a polarizing distraction, and by his own choice a high-profile figure. The NIC should be neither. Fairly or not, he would have been a “lightning rod” for Obama’s foreign-policy critics.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
California mulls pulling health care from eligible undocumented migrants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of their immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?
Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
-
Music reviews: Eric Church, Blondshell, and Model/Actriz
Feature "Evangeline vs. the Machine," "If You Asked for a Picture," and "Pirouette"
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy