The Jewish population worldwide is currently some four million below the level it was in 1939. Could a second holocaust, this time perpetrated against Israel, be the final blow to our people? Would we have the strength to go on in a diaspora already reeling from a 50 percent intermarriage rate and a low birthrate?
It seems obvious to me that the Jewish future is in Israel and that the protection of Israel has to be a primary concern of American Jews. I am a conservative at this moment because I sense a greater understanding of Israel’s peril among conservative Jews than among liberal Jews, who sometimes seem embarrassed by Israel and think it is Israel that has been the principal obstacle to achieving peace with the Palestinians. A serious study of the history proves conclusively that this is not the case.
Israel needs to be high or at the top of our agenda, not way down the list after the minimum wage, stem cell research, no child left behind and Al Gore’s new movie. So yes, I favor a foreign policy that does not shy away from action. And the brand of conservatism I have described here, I believe, offers our best hope to expand our freedoms and continue our economic progress at home, and to protect our freedom and Israel’s from threats from abroad.