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"No."
OK, so you don't think they're the only reason. And I wouldn't deny that they play some role, perhaps a significant one.
I think it's important, then, to determine just how large of a role such fear plays. Both because it is related to our ability or lack thereof to change Congressional policy on this matter, and because it is directly related to people's urge to scapegoat. A large part of the reaction to Walt and Mearsheimer's book "The Israel Lobby" was due to the perception that they were saying "without the Israel lobby, Congress would behave much better on Israel." Justified or not, people read "the Israel lobby" as "the Jews" and quickly jumped to the notion that W&M were saying "the Jews control our foreign policy."
Like it or not, that's what is behind the notion that otherwise noble-hearted Congresspeople are quivering in fear over what will be said about them if they buck orthodoxy on Israel, which it is their dear desire to do.
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