On Critiquing Israel

Well Rob raises the very real question if it is okay to criticize Israel? The answer is yes. No people are more critical of Israel than Israelis. And criticism of Israeli policy is not anti-Semitic.

In the rough and tumble world of sound bytes and talking points the word "hate" and "self-hate" get tossed about pretty carelessly. I hold that I can be an American patriot and be opposed to individual policies that I believe do not serve our interests. Similarly, I can hold that Israel is making a mistake or doing something not in its interests. The most sensitive may use or misuse the hate word, but we are not captives of the most sensitive or the most rhetorically brutal.

Where criticism crosses the line is when the discussion goes to the basic existential issue. Does Israel have a right to exist as a Jewish state? Those who say Israel can exist within secure borders often are purposely leaving out the Jewish part. The UN called Zionism racism. A single Jewish state amongst a dozen Arab states and two dozen Muslim states is an insult, a foreign body in the great Arabian corpus, and it must be expelled either by war or by the exploding population bomb.

Israel may make mistakes of policy, of elections and even misperceive its interest--as any other nation. Call them on it. But also accord Israel the same right to exist as a Jewish state that the Arab and Muslims states have. Accord to them the right to defend themselves when attacked and threatened.

Does Israel and do we Jews sometimes seem to over-react? Sure, it seems that way. Hamas may be bluffing when they talk about Israel's existence being unacceptable. Iran may be doing trash-talk when they threaten to annihilate Israel, but the lesson of the 20th Century has been that Jews cannot assume that it is only empty rhetoric.
©2009 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.org