Journalist and broadcaster Akira Ikegami has caused a stir in the West after he recently tried to explain to Japanese viewers how the United States is governed and why it remains Israel’s most important ally.
According to Ikegami, a key explanation is that the US economy and politics are dominated by people of Jewish descent, and he singles out the lobby group AIPAC as perhaps the most influential in the country.
In the program, which aired at the end of last year on the nationwide TV channel TV Asahi, Ikegami argues that both the Republicans and the Democrats fully support Israel and that the United States is Israel’s most loyal ally and financier, contributing significantly to funding the Israeli military.
When asked why the US actually supports Israel, a controversial explanation is presented – viewers are told that “the US has a lot of Jews at the top of banks and big business”.
– It is a presence that cannot be ignored, it is proclaimed, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Larry Page are singled out as two such examples.
The audience is also visibly surprised to learn that six of the world’s 10 richest people are Jewish, as Ikegami points to a board listing various influential people of Jewish descent.
– In the US, there are quite a few Jews in politics and economics, it is further explained, and the Japanese are also told that there are also Jewish lobby groups in the US that have “even more influence” than that.
Top Japanese journalist says AIPAC and the Jewish Lobby are “what really moves America.”
This aired on primetime TV. pic.twitter.com/9v7nYmds0D
— Chris Menahan (@infolibnews) November 17, 2024
“These who run the United States”
– Lobby groups do in fact lobby Congress and negotiate various issues, but there are certain groups that have a particularly strong influence on the political world, Igame explains, pointing to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as perhaps the most powerful lobby group in the United States.
– It is these who truly run the United States, he adds.
It is unclear how the program was received in Japan at the time of its broadcast, but it has caused quite a stir since it was translated into English and shared on Western social media.
Many point out that it illustrates very clearly the cultural and political differences between West and East, and argue that a program of this kind should never have been allowed to air on a European or American TV channel.
