Now, does this mean Beck is the ideal, made-to-order pro-Israel broadcaster and activist? No. He’s not a polished intellectual. He commits gaffes. He’s not always in command of the subjects he deals with. He often has a heavy-handed delivery. He could bring God into it less, since the points he makes are important for all people of goodwill and genuine sympathy for Israel, religious and secular.
And those points include the facts that Israel, as a thriving democracy, is on a different moral plane from its neighbors, including its supposed peace partners; and that, more than any other country in the world, Israel is under grave threat – particularly from Iran, striding toward nukes while its president foretells Israel’s demise regularly, and Iran’s allies and proxies on Israel’s borders.
Seemingly that would be enough to forge some unity among those claiming to care about Israel.
P.David Hornik is a freelance writer and translator living in Israel. He blogs at http://pdavidhornik.typepad.com.