{"id":81252,"date":"2020-10-12T17:05:33","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T15:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=81252"},"modified":"2020-10-04T07:38:46","modified_gmt":"2020-10-04T05:38:46","slug":"05-05-57","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=81252","title":{"rendered":"Beware of Israel\u2019s Critics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Beware of Israel\u2019s Critics<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Jerold Auerbach<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

US President Donald Trump arrives to delivers remarks on judicial appointments during an appearance in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 9, 2020. Photo: REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

At his Times of Israel<\/em> blog on September 24, University of Maryland Distinguished Professor Jeffrey Herf cites \u201cthe great American weakening, which has been the hallmark of the Trump era.\u201d He eviscerates \u201cTrumpism,\u201d defined as \u201cisolationist and nationalist sentiments and appeals to white grievance.\u201d Indeed, Trump\u2019s \u201cauthoritarianism,\u201d according to Herf, displays \u201cthe whiff of fascism.\u201d His defeat in the forthcoming election \u201cwould pave the way for a restoration of American moral stature.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Herf is, of course, entitled to his opinions. But for a historian, as he surely knows, facts trump rants. Herf cites Trump\u2019s \u201crecord of lies and unfounded insinuations\u201d that render him \u201ca fickle and unreliable ally for the Jewish state.\u201d If reelected, it would mean \u201cthe practical end of the US as a significant actor on the world stage, and with that \u2026 its capacity to support the State of Israel against its adversaries.\u201d Israelis who \u2014 for good reason \u2014 applaud Trump as \u201cgood for Israel\u201d and \u201cthe greatest friend of the Jewish state\u201d among his presidential predecessors, are supposedly<\/span> misguided. But perhaps it is Professor Herf who is misguided.<\/p>\n

It is worth remembering \u2014 as even Professor Herf does \u2014 what President Trump has done to Israel\u2019s benefit. He recognizes that Trump \u2014 contrary to his predecessor Barack Obama, the most hostile to Israel of any American president \u2014 withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and \u201claunched a campaign of maximum pressure\u201d against its nuclear program. Trump, not Obama, relocated the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing the ancient holy Jewish city as the true capital of Israel. Trump, not Obama, extended Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, vital to its security.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Obama, as Caroline Glick has written in Israel Hayom<\/em> (September 25), \u201cmade supporting the Palestinians and their unrelenting war against Israel his highest goal. His method for advancing it was applying unrelenting pressure on Israel and showering it with abuse, threats and condemnations.\u201d For good reason Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Trump as \u201cthe best friend Israel has ever had in the White House.\u201d Only Harry S. Truman, who instantly recognized Israel upon its Declaration of Independence, comes close.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Professor Herf seems obsessed with the need to lacerate his White House nemesis. Trump\u2019s reelection, Herf imagines, would not only \u201csignal the practical end of the US as a significant actor on the world stage\u201d but (in ways unidentified because they are a fantasy) also \u201cits capacity to support the State of Israel against its enemies.\u201d That, as lawyers are fond of saying, is a non sequitur<\/em>. But for Herf, \u201ca whiff of fascism\u201d hovers over Trump. To date, however, this \u201cfickle and unreliable ally\u201d has done far more to Israel\u2019s benefit in four years than his predecessor did in eight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Herf might benefit from reading a Jerusalem Post<\/em> article (August 17) by Eytan Gilboa, an Israeli professor with a Harvard Ph.D. whose outstanding academic career \u2014 to say nothing of his work as a consultant to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office and the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs \u2014 eviscerates Herf\u2019s presumptions and conclusions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing in The Jerusalem Post <\/em>(August 18) Professor Gilboa cites the extreme importance of the recent Israel-UAE agreement. He anticipates that the third Israeli peace treaty with an Arab nation (preceded by agreements with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994) \u201cwill increase the prospects for peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East\u201d and \u201cincrease the legitimacy of Israel\u2019s existence as a Jewish state\u201d in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is hardly coincidental that this breakthrough occurred during  the term of a supportive American president who, unlike his predecessor, seems to recognize the pivotal role that Israel plays in securing Middle East peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are, to be sure, ample reasons for criticizing President Trump. But his strong support for Israel and encouragement of Arab acceptance of its presence as a valuable ally compare more than favorably with his liberal predecessor, who never missed an opportunity to increase Israel\u2019s vulnerability and criticize its policies \u2014 whether by ignoring Iran\u2019s nuclear development, denouncing Jewish settlements, or favoring a Palestinian state in the Biblical homeland of the Jewish people.<\/span><\/p>\n

How ironic, but revealing, that Israel\u2019s best presidential friend since 1948 should be the target of unrelenting criticism from those who profess support for the Jewish state while serving as its constant critics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Jerold S. Auerbach<\/strong> is the author of <\/em>Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel, 1896-2016, selected for <\/em>Mosaic by Ruth Wisse and Martin Kramer as a Best Book for 2019.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em>
\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion’68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.
\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:
\n<\/em>webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beware of Israel\u2019s Critics Jerold Auerbach US President Donald Trump arrives to delivers remarks on judicial appointments during an appearance in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 9, 2020. Photo: REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst. At his Times of Israel blog on September 24, University of Maryland Distinguished Professor Jeffrey Herf cites \u201cthe great American […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81252"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81395,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81252\/revisions\/81395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}