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A heated debate rages in American academia and policy-making circles about what drives US policy towards Israel, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Scholars are split over whether it's the "Israel Lobby" or strategic considerations that drive US policy in this regard. A common error in scholarly inquiries into this issue is the treating of US policy towards Israel on the one hand, and US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the other, as the same thing. This paper emphasizes that there is a distinction there. Since it's the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that makes US Israel-policy controversial, this paper will start with a brief historical account of the conflict to identify the remaining core contentions, before engaging the policy debate. The paper argues that while Israel is of strategic utility to the US, current US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict contradicts US interests. Thus, the general close US-Israel alliance may be attributed to strategic US interests in the region, while US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular may be attributed to the powerful domestic Israel Lobby in the US. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]