Dueling Loyalties?

by Theodore Samets Among the many back-and-forths between current American, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders is the demand that Palestinians recognize Israel not only as a nation but specifically as a “Jewish state.” Yesterday on Time’s Global Spin blog, Tony Karon, a Jewish but notoriously anti-Israel commentator, asks: “Is Israel the ‘National Home of the Jewish People?’” Karon uses a heated debate to try and draw distant conclusions. One can certainly make the argument that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand, supported by President Obama, that Mahmoud Abbas accept Israel as a Jewish state, is unnecessary. Some commentators have gone even farther and attempted to point out flaws in this goal.   Yet this is not what Karon is asking in Time. Instead, he’s challenging the basis for Zionism altogether, and making statements that, were he not Jewish, some might label as...

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Hannah Rosenthal Under Fire

By Symi Rom-Rymer The mock outrage and cheap scoring of political points that has ensued in the wake of a Haaretz interview with Hannah Rosenthal, the new U.S. Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Anti-Semitism, is quite a thing to behold.  Conservative American Jewish leaders made it clear from the moment that Rosenthal’s appointment was announced that they were upset with the Obama administration’s decision.  From writing open letters (Abe Foxman) to writing condescending op-eds, (Gregg Rickman) those who disagree with her views have sought to undermine her judgment and competence from the start. It should be no surprise that Rosenthal reacted the way that she did to Ambassador Michael Oren’s comments regarding J Street.  As a former J Street board member and member of the left-wing organization Americans for Peace Now, it is clear where her...

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