I am actually among those Jews who think that the Israeli Prime Minister has the obligation to hold America’s lazy feet to the fire over the issue of Iran. But read how Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik, an online columnist for the Jewish Week, is quaking in his boots assuring readers that he is pro-Israel before attacking Bibi’s approach to Obama. The following 179-Word paragraph is just the preface to his actual opinion.
Let me, at the outset, make myself as clear as I can. I have often referred to myself as an “unrepentant Zionist,” and I am. Were I the Prime Minister of Israel, and I had to carry on my shoulders the responsibility for protecting my country and its citizens from the likes of Ahmadinejad, who threatens regularly to wipe Israel off the map and is engaged in a drive to gain nuclear weapon capability, I, too, would do everything in my power to prevent him from reaching his goal. If Israel, based on its intelligence reports and security considerations, decides that it has no choice but to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, then my comfort level or lack thereof with that decision is not Israel’s issue, nor should it be. And if Israel feels that the American government’s assessment of Iran’s intentions and/or progress towards becoming a nuclear power is in error, and is jeopardizing Israel’s security, not for a second would I begrudge Israel the right to make clear to America how I felt, in direct and unmistakable terms.
But I wouldn’t do it in public. And I wouldn’t do it in a way that publicly portrays a sitting president of the United States as less than a true friend to Israel. And last but certainly not least, I wouldn’t do it in the final weeks of an American presidential election, in a way that makes Israel and its security a wedge issue in the campaign.
