Things can become a little confusing when the same neocons who insist it is ipso facto anti-Semitic to ask what role Israel plays in their calculations instruct American Jews that they are paying too much attention to their own country’s best interests and not enough to Israel’s. Writing in–of all places–The Weekly Standard, David Gelernter attacks American Jews for their “self-destructive nihilism” in remaining “fervent supporters of an American left that is increasingly unable or unwilling to say why Israel must exist.” (This is nonsense about the vast majority of the left, of course, but ignore that for a moment.) Gelernter argues that “grassroots Democrats are increasingly dangerous to the Jewish state (not to mention the American state).” Note that the question of the “American state” is literally a mere parenthetical to Gelernter’s principal concern–the well-being of Israel. Over at National Review’s “The Corner,” Mona Charen can be found making the same sneering argument. She calls American Jews “stubborn and downright stupid” because they “despise George W. Bush and will donate time and money to any Democrat in 2008, while Bush is indisputably the most pro-Israel president in the history of the United States.” Again, it’s highly “disputable,” but never mind that. More to the point is the fact that Bush’s presidency–a complete and utter failure by virtually any empirical measurement–is also deemed irrelevant. It’s Israel alone that matters, according to these anti-American conservatives. (And woe unto American Jews when Christian America starts paying attention to their unpatriotic perfidy.)
What’s most immediately worrisome about the neocons’ long march through our institutions of government is the possibility that they may succeed a second time. According to Sidney Blumenthal’s reporting in Salon, neocon staffers for Dick Cheney and the NSC’s point man on the Middle East, Elliott Abrams (Norman Podhoretz’s son-in-law), “have discussed Syrian and Iranian supply activities as a potential pretext for Israeli bombing of both countries.” They are looking, according to this NSC source, “to widen the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and Israel and Hamas into a four-front war.”
Four wars simultaneously? Led by this crew? After what we’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is it me, or are the people who run this country dangerously out of their minds?
Reminder to self: move to South America (but not too close to Castro or Chavez).
I think suggesting they are out of their minds lets them off the hook too easily. This conflating of Israel’s interests and the US interests (or subsuming, might be better) has the makings of an internal coup which has been much more successful than the one that we glimpsed during the Iran-Contra scandal. The discrediting of the Left- which was not that vocal about what happened to Lebanon- is preparation for two things, I believe. One is setting the stage for a more hawish Congress and presidency (several importants seats are to be challenged this year- including Issa’s) and two is laying the groundwork for yet another conflict with Hezbollah/it’s backers as the bogeyman du jour- much more visible, much more indentifiable, hangs out with “bad” neighborhood elements, etc. This recent bomb thing (I am not sure what to call it- fairy tale, red herring, farce based on a few facts…) has heightened fears, again and Lebanon, contrary to what the US wants- has yet to disarm Hezbollah (see Issa’s latest op-ed) and now Bush is siging its faint praises as a”fragile democracy” (remember Marc Anthony? I come to bury Ceasar, not to praise him…), there is a new domino theory in the wings…
Funny – from what I’ve heard, many more pragmatic Israeli policy types are often exasperated by the romantic nationalism of the more ideological American jews…this suggests a reversal of that equation.
If you look at the voting patterns of American Jews (Pew had a survey that touched on this a couple of years ago), the Israel question doesn’t seem to affect whether they vote Republican or Democrat very much, which is surprising given that Israel is the prime focus of most Jewish interest groups in the US. The neocons in the article above are probably frustrated by their inability to push enough American Jews out of their traditional preference for the Dems (though young Jewish men under 30 are now quite firmly in the Republican camp per Pew poll).