Mischaracterizing Israel
Rabbi Ayelet Cohen claims she is fighting for a better Israel amid “mischaracterizations and accusations” of her views (Opinion, “Fighting for a better Israel is an act of love, not betrayal,” Dec. 12). Might she be mischaracterizing Israel? Cohen asks, “How do we restore and deepen that connection [between Israel and American Jews]?” Surely not by railing against Israel.
Who is Cohen, sitting in America and living on land stolen from its indigenous peoples, to assert “the settlement enterprise and the 52-year-long Israeli military occupation of Palestinians is profoundly corrosive and dangerous to Israel morally and existentially”? I would like to know how better Israel would be if it gave up the land to terrorists? Are Israelis better off for the disengagement from Gaza? Are Gazans better off?
American Jews living 6,000 miles away have no right to judge Israeli Jews, particularly when there is so much hatred directed at Jews around the world.
Melvin Farber
Silver Spring, Md.
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