The Forward’s obit for William Safire, by Ron Kampeas of the JTA, is all about his love of Israel and his Jewishness. Remember that the NY Times didn’t even identify Safire as a Jew, let alone describe his attachment to Israel. Is this sort of blindness acceptable? No. And why does the Times insist on Safire’s non-Jewishness? Because giving any attention to the fact would seem to make Jewishness important. Well in this context, it is. Key excerpts from Kampeas:
Safire reserved his deepest affections for Israel; Israeli prime ministers often used his column’s valued real estate to convey messages to the Washington leadership. He was especially close to Ariel Sharon. In a Jan. 3 2005 column he asked Sharon, who was buffeted by criticism from the right for setting the stage for the evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip: “And do you expect to be prime minister one year from today?” He recorded Sharon’s reply as: “Why only one year?”
After Buchanan, preparing for a presidential run in 1999 on the Reform ticket, accused the “Israeli lobby” of not putting American first, Safire wrote this of a man he once considered a close friend:
“Was this calculated to whip up resentment at Jews’ political participation, even at the cost of stimulating anti-Semitism? Of course; he knows exactly what he’s doing. To pose as fair, he also imputes policy disloyalty to Americans with ties to Cuba, Greece, Armenia and a dozen other places, and is careful to say ‘Israeli lobby’ rather than ‘Jewish lobby.’ But you know what he means.”
Safire is equaly remembered as the “On Language” columnist, appearing in the New York Times Magazine from 1979 until earlier this year. He loved to plumb the meanings of what had become common usage – especially common political usage – and seemed to take special pleasure in uncovering Jewish origins. In 2007 he asked readers to research the origins of “Go figure.”
