Did Foreign Policy think it was doing Michael Oren a favor when it pasted the following graphic at the top of a long piece by the ambassador explaining why Israel is the “ultimate ally” of the United States? I don’t think so. I have to think some shmendrick in the art department has an anti-Zionist agenda.
Oren’s piece is an attack on the realist idea that the U.S. might have distinct interests from Israel (including a desire for Palestinian freedom) and is rooted in Oren’s potted history of Zionism being rooted in the American revolution. But I think that flag image will make a lot of Americans gag. It makes me gag. It’s frightening, could have come off a hate site, and only underlines the realist wisdom that no two countries have congruent interests… The piece repeats two weak talking points: that Arab leaders only care about Iran and that the Arab revolts have had little to say against the U.S. or Israel… Both are misrepresentations. Thanks to Matt Duss.
