Even if Hagel were not to dominate him on Israel, how could it be that Obama would not care about the sensibilities of Jewish Americans concerning Hagel’s record on Israel and his expressed disdain for the so-called Jewish lobby?
I don’t believe Obama would ever dream of nominating someone who made derogatory statements about any other group.
Henry Horovitz
(Via E-Mail)
Beware Hamas
Steve Waltz hit the nail on the head (“Hamas Prepares for West Bank Putsch,” news story, Dec. 28). There can be no doubt that Hamas will come to predominate the Palestinian future. It is only a matter of time. Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah are incapable of thwarting it, even though it is in their political interests to do so. And then we will have a replay of Gaza and yet another base for anti-Israel terror. The only thing keeping Abbas in power is the IDF.
Gershon Nuemann
Jerusalem
New Face Of War?
Let’s hope “The Changing Face of War” (editorial, Dec. 28) is prescient. How I hope Israel will be able to defend itself without having to put its young people at risk of their lives! Not only will it save innocent Israeli lives, but it will also convince the Arab world that it cannot rely on Israel’s deep concern over its young soldiers to cause it to pull its punches.
Hilda Goldstein
(Via E-Mail)
Truman And Israel
Author Denis Brian (Letters, Dec. 28) says the reason President Truman imposed an embargo on arms to the Middle East, which was actually an embargo on arms to Israel, during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war was that “He believed that if he armed the Israelis, the Soviet Union would arm the Arabs and it might be the start of World War III.”
But the USSR supported the creation of Israel, spoke out on behalf of Jewish independence in the United Nations, voted for the UN Partition Plan, and was the first nation to give de jure diplomatic recognition to Israel, on May 17, 1948.
In the 1948 war, Israel got its largest supply of arms from the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. And the Soviet bloc countries of Poland and Czechoslovakia were among the first to give Israel de jure diplomatic recognition. So America providing arms to Israel in 1948 would hardly have led to World War III.
Reuven Solomon
(Via E-Mail)