Naturally, he is virtually ignored by the Washington establishment which is more concerned with obeying the foreign-policy blob and the Israel Lobby. Mearsheimer, of course, famously worked with Stephen Walt to author the important 2007 book The Israel Lobby which describes the remarkable degree to which Israeli lobbyists are able to influence American foreign policy. Mearsheimer also predicted that Ukraine would regret giving up its nuclear arsenal, and he predicted that the US's insistence on pushing NATO eastward would lead to increased conflict with Russia.

In last week's talk at the Center for Independent Studies in Sydney, Mearsheimer outlines how the State of Israel's ultimate goal for the Palestinians right now is ethnic cleansing. Moreover, he notes that the Israeli state is presently declining in influence and in its relative power, internationally.

In illustrating this, he notes that Israel is presently in the business of ethnic cleansing because that it, politically speaking, the most acceptable course of action for the regime. Specifically, the Israeli regime has four options for the Palestinians.

Become a normal democratic constitutional state in which Palestinians have equal legal rights.

Adopt a two-state solution.

Enforce an apartheid state.

Carry out ethnic cleansing.

Mearshimer notes that the elites of the Israeli state has zero interest in a democracy or constitutional republic. Rather, the Israeli elites want a Jewish ethno-state in which all other groups are second-class citizens. This is partly why Israel has not written constitution. That might end up protecting the rights of ethnic minorities. So, option 1 is unacceptable.

The two-state solution is obviously unacceptable also, and Mearsheimer notes this is partly why the Israeli state essentially created Hamas and continued to support Hamas right up to October 7. Hamas was created to counter the PLO which supports a two-state solution. Hamas, of course, rejects that option, and wants for the Palestinians what Israel has right now: total control of the region "from the river to the sea."

Given that constitutions, democracy, and self-determination for Palestinians is all unacceptable to Israeli state, the regime has opted for apartheid instead. But apartheid comes with a lot of problems, as we saw in the case of South Africa when it faced a multitude of sanctions and other diplomatic problems from its ongoing apartheid.