Farewell, Israel

If American Jews won’t support Israel, why should I?

It’s funny how some things stick in your mind.

I remember vividly back in 1972 watching my Jewish roommate “Harry” (he of the Looney Liberal Chronicles fame) wait for the ABC radio news at the top of each hour, hoping to catch an update on the Yom Kippur War.  The news broadcast would invariably lead off with a story about the upcoming U.S. presidential election, then a story or two about some woman and her 62 cats in a suburb of Kansas City, and finally end with “Israeli forces continue their battle along the Golan Heights.” 

That was it.  No elaboration, no details, no indication of whether things were going well or badly for Israel.  Harry would slam his fist on the table and swear at the meager time devoted to providing real information on the war for Israel’s survival, all the while pacing back and forth with angst-driven concern.

As a gentile with obvious sympathies for Israel (my nickname was the “gazunta goy”), I shared Harry’s frustration.  To me, Israel represented the only outpost of western values in an otherwise worthless part of the world.  Not worthless in natural resources mind you, but worthless in anything that remotely advanced the human condition.  The theocratic nature of certain aspects of Israeli politics made me a bit queasy, but there was enough secularism in the Jewish state for me to identify with their cause. 

Israel was a democracy and its neighbors were tin-horn dictatorships.  What more did I need to know?  Israel was our friend and ally in the Middle East, and by God I wasn’t going to abandon a friend and ally just to suck up to a bunch of terrorists and thugs who had a lot of oil.  They needed us (as a destination point for their oil) as much as we needed them, so who cared if they didn’t like strong U.S. support for, and protection of, the state of Israel?

My steadfast support for Israel remained high throughout the years of Arab hijackings and Arab oil boycotts.  You deal with hijackings by hunting down and killing the people who do things like that.  And you deal with boycotts by developing your own resources.  You don’t give in to bullies, or take the expedient road just to live a nicer lifestyle.  You fight for the things you believe in, and protect those who are on your side.

Consequently, when Israel bombed Saddam’s nuclear reactor, I supported them. When Bill Clinton tried to strongarm the Israelis into giving away 95% of the occupied territory in exchange for a phony, legacy-driven peace treaty with Arafat, I opposed it.  When Israel wanted to purchase additional U.S. aircraft and weapons against Arab objections, I supported that decision.  And when Israel itself wanted to give back part of the Gaza Strip in a misguided effort to make nice with the United Nations, I opposed that; arguing that it would do absolutely nothing to stem the tide of terrorist attacks against Israel, or make the UN less anti-Semitic than it already is.

I continued my unabashed support for Israel in the face of the fecklessness of American Jews.  Every election the party that was Israel’s best friend was abandoned by American Jews in staggering numbers.  From the anti-Semitic Carter to the self-absorbed Clinton, American Jews gave their money and votes to electing Democrat leaders.  George Bush, who is undeniably the best friend the state of Israel ever had — save Harry Truman — is considered to be just one small step above pond scum.  Barack Obama, who has no great love for Israel and has more than signaled his intention to dramatically re-align U.S. interests in that part of the world, was supported by over 78% of American Jews in the 2008 election.  

And that’s what’s finally done it for me.  After forty years of managing this contradiction in my own mind, I’ve finally come to the realization that I’ve been embarked on a fool’s errand.  By supporting Israel, I’m supporting a course of action that antagonizes the people who control a significant part of the world’s oil; not just countries like Iran, but other anti-Semitic oil producers around the world. 

Under President Obama oil will no longer be necessary.  But like he said in his Tuesday night acceptance speech, it may take longer than one term for this new day to arrive.  I hope to be alive in 2047, but until then we’ll still need oil.  Our new friend Hugo Chavez will sell us all we want after he and the “black man” sit down for a friendly chat, and Iran won’t need as much of its own oil when it goes nuclear in a few years, so there should be plenty of it out there if we don’t piss these people off.  And with Obama as president, we won’t.

While we’re pumping billions of taxpayer dollars into developing new solar and electric vehicles that will make today’s Smart Cars look like tomorrow’s SUVs, we’ll still be buying oil from our new anti-Semitic buds.  Since we’re not going to develop our own resources, all we need to do to insure a steady, uninterrupted supply is dump Israel.  Granted, after that we may need to do a few other things to accommodate their tender sensibilities, like completely withdrawing from Iraq, Afghanistan, the rest of the Middle East, making our women wear burkhas, adopting sharia law in the US — you know, little things like that.  But most of these won’t be an issue until Obama’s second term, and we can figure out plenty of ways by then to surrender our principles to keep the foreign oil flowing.  For the time being, Israel is the only real thorn that needs to be excised, and I for one will no longer object to its removal. 

My decision is not vindictive, but pragmatic.  And today, pragmatism — not principles — is the thing that guides our nation the most.  American Jews had every opportunity to understand who Obama is, what he stands for, and what he represents.  If they supported him overwhelmingly regardless of the consequences for Israel, why should I or any other non-Jews care when Israel gets sold out in the future?  Obama will make nice with the Arab states and terrorist groups at Israel’s expense.  He will block Israel from defending itself.  And I will no longer object.

The issue is simple.  I will not work against Israel.  But, I will no longer defend Israel, or seek to overturn Obama’s policies that harm it.  If American Jews want Obama as our president, then why should I get upset when Obama’s policies are put into action?