Final_Judgment

411 Photo Section
Just before the fifth edition of Final Judgment went to press, an anonymous source left a
package of eye-opening documents outside the author’s office (left). The material, dating
to 1976, includes bitter, handwritten attacks on JFK and his policy toward Israel by no less
than I. L. Kenan, founder of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the
lobby for Israel. Kenan’s attacks on JFK prove beyond doubt that JFK was not a “special
friend of Israel” as the Israeli lobby (and some JFK researchers) have suggested in order
to counter the foundational thesis of Final Judgment. The 2003 book, Support Any Friend
(right) by Israeli educated Warren Bass—the first-ever overview of JFK’s Middle East
policy—was funded by pro-Israel foundations and is clearly part of the operation to
defuse growing awareness of the assertions made in Final Judgment. The Israeli-sponsored
book makes the contorted, clearly specious argument that JFK’s conflict with Israel
actually strengthened the U.S.-Israeli relationship and claims that because JFK provided
Israel with conventional weapons (effectively paying extortion hoping to stop Israel from
building nuclear weapons) is somehow “proof” that JFK was the spiritual father of the “special
relationship” between the U.S. and Israel. Not surprisingly, the American media—particularly
Jewish newspapers—have given the book wide play. Critics of Final Judgment cite the Bass
book as an effective refutation of Final Judgment. It is not.
The official U.S. government publication shown above (issued in 1994) published—for the first time—
long-classified U.S. diplomatic documents which proved there was indeed a fierce conflict between
JFK and Israel over Israel’s determination to construct a nuclear arsenal. The documents also
demonstrate that other aspects of JFK’s policy were highly controversial as far as Israel was
concerned. The more recent book, Israel and the Bomb, by Israeli historian Avner Cohen, also provides
newlighton thelong-secret conflict betweenJFK and Israel, although Cohen himself hasdenounced
Final Judgment. Revealing excerpts from some of the more pertinent U.S. documents appear on
the two pages which follow . . .