Let’s talk about the dual loyalty that support for Israel inevitably engenders in the bosom of an American Jew. This is the unspoken essence of Robert Kaplan’s statement in the Atlantic, that the US and Israel do not have identical interests with respect to Iran:
Israel’s supporters [this is a euphemism for American Jews in the Status Quo lobby] believe that because both the U.S. and Israel are democracies, the two countries share identical national interests. But Israel is half a world away from America, virtually surrounded by enemies on land, while America is an island nation bordered by two vast oceans. [and we are not a Jewish state, hon]… Iran threatens Israel much more than it does America. It may very well be in Israel’s best interest to attack Iran. But it is probably not in America’s for Israel to do so, given America’s exposure in Iraq. And an Israeli attack could destroy President Barack Obama’s efforts to reach out to the Muslim world. If you think the tension between the U.S. and Israel is high now, just wait until there’s a significant spike in casualties in Iraq following an Israeli strike on Iran.
In June Jeffrey Goldberg (pictured, in his element), who like Kaplan is also a former IDF soldier who writes for the Atlantic (yes; there are professional barriers to success in the magazine world), identified the same issue but emphasized he had loyalty to the US:
For years, we in the American Jewish community have been able to say to ourselves [that] Israel’s interests and America’s interests overlap so much that we never have an internal conflict. If you’re being intellectually honest with yourself, you have to say that what’s good for Israel in this case might not be the best thing in the world for America. You have to be open to that discussion…
I’ve decided in my life that I’m an American Jew. I love Israel, I want Israel protected and I want it safe. [But] do I want America to do things that possibly endangers its own national interest in order to protect Israel? I don’t think so.
In March, Eric Alterman laid out the same principle at the 92d Street Y, but I believe was more honest than Goldberg or Kaplan, and said because of his love of Israel, he would go with Israel in some cases. "Sometimes I’m going to go with Israel," Alterman said. Why? Because the US can take a lot of hits, but Israel can’t. And when the moderator asked in what instances the countries’ interests diverge, Alterman said that terrorist attacks on the US were motivated in some degree by the U.S.-Israel relationship.
"Dammit, if that’s the price we have to pay [for the special relationship], let’s pay it… But let’s be honest about it."
Liberals don’t want to talk about dual loyalty in the Jewish community because it is an ancient "canard" of the antisemites. But Herzl himself battled this problem 110 years ago: rich Jews didn’t want to go with him because they feared that their "patriotism" would be questioned. Now who’s talking about the issue? Three American Jews who love Israel. And notice: no pogroms. This isn’t just about Iran; it’s soul-searching over Iraq. I believe that both Goldberg and Kaplan supported the Iraq War. The ultimate question, which will be discussed on the stage at Yivo, some day, when the Jewish community fully reckons with its culpability in that disaster, is to what degree influential Jewish supporters of the Iraq war did so out of concern for Israel’s security.
