Dr. Gary Katz characterizes such hard-left Israeli academics as “death cult” members who grow ever more extreme as their illusions are shattered by reality. It’s a point. Dr. Katz ultimately blames the Israeli academic system, since it has both trained and rewarded academics who excel in hating their own state.
And yet, despite the naked hatred of Israel exhibited by so many Jews on the left, I recognize that there are critics who are driven not by hate but by the sincere conviction that if only Israel would radically reform itself and become a pure and sacrificial light unto the nations, the world would embrace the Jews and the Almighty would bring about the End of Days. (For my part, I’ll leave town when that happens. Read Isaiah. That much-touted event will not be a pretty sight.)
The fact is, there is much about Israel that warrants criticism. What I’m about to write has been said by other lovers of Zion, usually behind closed doors and in somber whispers: Israel is indeed under siege, but it has been corrupted by arrogance and greed. Its leaders are blind and self-serving. Sectors of its Torah community are increasingly intolerant and violent toward outsiders. Injustices toward the poor, toward the vulnerable, toward women, and toward the stranger in our gate continue unabated and fill me with grief.
Yes, such injustices are much greater elsewhere, but so what? What excuse can we possibly offer for a Jewish state being no worse and no better than everyone else? What does it mean when Jews judge themselves by non-Jewish standards?
Those of us fighting the good fight against the relentless demonization of Israel by both Jews and non-Jews cannot afford to react in knee-jerk fashion to any negative statement or characterization. It’s easy enough to dismiss the outrageous, pseudo-academic slanders against Israel of the sort mentioned earlier. But what do we do when the criticism has the ring of truth and then some?