Israel is an important, valued ally in the region closely tied to the United States by culture and ideas. What is not valuable however, is America's relationship with a related, but in many ways separate group: the Israel Lobby, a loose coalition of right-wing individuals and organizations that actively work to shape US foreign policy in a way that is profoundly damaging both to the United States and to Israel itself. Mearsheimer and Walt have finally said what has been clear to many for years: there is something deeply worrying about the Israel lobby's influence on US foreign policy. By encouraging unconditional US financial and diplomatic support for Israel and promoting the use of its power to remake the Middle East, the lobby has jeopardized America's own national and strategic interests - in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Preventing the United States from playing a more constructive role in the region has also undermined Israel's own long-term security and put the interests of other countries - including Great Britain - at risk.