The pro-Israel lobby has swayed US presidents since Truman. It must end with Trump | Ian Lustick and Eli Clifton

Our new book tracks the growth over nearly eight decades, of the most powerful foreign policy lobby in US history

In 1948, with war raging in Palestine, Harry Truman found himself trapped.

On one side were Zionist lobbyists and the president's domestic political advisers, who were urging him to support the establishment of a Jewish state in as much of Palestine as possible. On the other were his top foreign policy and national security officials, led by the secretary of state, George C Marshall. Their unanimous recommendation was to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state, which they believed would trigger war in the Middle East and endanger the future of US relations with the Arab and Muslim world.