The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative think tank whose leadership and policy goals were closely aligned with pro-Israel interests and the broader Zionist agenda of reshaping the Middle East. Key PNAC figures, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and John Bolton, also held leadership roles in organizations like the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) and advocated for regime change in Iraq, Syria, and Iran to secure Israel's strategic position.
"A Clean Break," a 1996 strategy paper authored by prominent neoconservatives such as Richard Perle for then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outlined a plan to remove Saddam Hussein and fragment neighboring Arab states, a blueprint that heavily influenced PNAC's later calls for U.S. interventionism. Scholars and critics argue that the 2003 invasion of Iraq cannot be understood without recognizing this convergence of neoconservative ideology and Zionist strategic objectives, which viewed a militarily dominant Israel as essential to U.S. interests in the region.
- PNAC affiliates like William Kristol and Elliott Abrams actively pressured the Clinton and Bush administrations to pursue policies favorable to Israel, including the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
- The think tank's 1997 founding coincided with a surge in influence for pro-Israel hawks who argued that U.S. security depended on projecting power in the Middle East to protect Israel.
- Critics contend that PNAC's vision of a "new Pearl Harbor" to catalyze global transformation aligned with Israeli strategic desires to dismantle hostile Arab regimes.