This is how a Syrian professor, writing for a Dubai outlet, summarizes the effects of the Walt-Mearsheimer paper:
The damage caused by the Harvard-sponsored study to the Jewish lobbying groups was enormous. For the first time in the history of US-Israeli relations a prestigious and respected academic institution in the US dares to speak up about such a sensitive topic considered by many in the US as taboo.
Jewish groups in the US decided to remain silent, however, in order to avoid generating public debate about the study.