Word: israell
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When John Larew characterizes Americans who support Israel "because it is a Jewish state" as "Zealots," I am reminded of Golda Meir's sharp reply to a critic who asked her if Israel suffered from a "Masada complex" of last-stand heroism. (Masada was the last stand of Palestinian Jews against the Romans in A.D. 73.) "Yes, we do have a Masada complex," she replied. "We have a Masada complex, we have a Chmielnicki [where 100,000 Jews were murdered by Cossacks] complex, we have a Dachau complex...
Instead of acting as sympathetic critics and trying to keep Israel on the straight and narrow, the Zealots are busy apologizing for actions that non Zionist Americans can never condone...
OBVIOUSLY, support for Israel among American Jews is strong and deeply-rooted. How many kids in Hebrew school have discussed which side they would choose in a hypothetical war between the U.S. and Israel...
...when American Jews' enthusiasm for the Jewish state exceeds their enthusiasm for Israeli democracy, they do a disservice to both Israel and democracy. When American Jews fail to take a critical stance toward human rights violations in Israel, they squander the support of non-Zionists in the U.S. who are potential friends of Israel...
...long run, as the oil-producing gulf states become more geopolitically important and the relative importance of Israel declines, friends of Israel will have only one card to play when soliciting aid from the U.S. That card is political democracy and respect for human rights. Jews should be pressuring Israel to guard that card scrupulously, or they could find that they are Israel's only remaining friends...