Letters To The Editor - June 26, 2026

Democrats Support a Shrunken Israel

I appreciated the arguments made by Brian Romick (“Senator Van Hollen’s Op-Ed Misses the Mark on Israeli-Palestinian Reality,” June 5), CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, to dispute Senator Van Hollen’s New York Times op-ed, except for one paragraph. Mr. Romick writes that “pro-Israel Democrats are opposed to settlement expansion in the West Bank.”

Perhaps if Mr. Romick referred to that area of Israel by its proper name, Judea and Samaria, he and other like-minded pro-Israel Democrats would know that he is talking about Biblical Israel and that every Jew has a right to live there. And I would add that that goes for the Temple Mount.

If you are going to call yourself pro-Israel, then you need to know and speak out about our Jewish rights to the entire Land of Israel.

Zachary Margolies

Philadelphia

Kudos to Seinfeld

The article “Jerry Seinfeld Was Right – Palestine Doesn’t Exist” by Saul Singer (June 19) was spot on. It highlighted Seinfeld’s willingness to speak boldly in defense of the Jewish people and Israel. As the article noted, when asked about Palestine after a Knicks playoffs game, Seinfeld responded that it does not exist.

Seinfeld has been outspoken in supporting both Israel and the New York Knicks. Unlike some Jews in Hollywood who have shifted their support toward the Palestinian cause, Seinfeld has remained firm in his pro-Israel views.

Many people speak of “Palestine” as though it has long been an established country. But that’s obviously false. Seinfeld, who comes from both Sephardic Syrian Jewish and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, has shown the courage and conviction to express opinions that some pro-Israel leaders may be reluctant to state publicly.

His views deserve wider attention. Kol hakavod to him and thank you, Jerry.

Raquel Hanon

Via email

BDS Hypocrisy

Jonathan Braun’s article “Two Countries and the Rest of the World” (June 5) appears to have been (beautifully) written as an indirect response to BDS supporters.

They can’t have it both ways. If it is a true boycott of Israeli products and services they desire, then they should not avail themselves of Israeli innovation at all.

That would be difficult given the fact that Israel is responsible for a lion’s share of global technological, agricultural, and medical breakthroughs. BDSers would be hard-pressed to make do without all the products and services produced by Israel, a veritable bastion of technological know-how.

Recently, members of a Brooklyn food co-op in Park Slope voted to ban Israeli products, causing great inconvenience and harm to many of its members. They will be missing out on wonderful products, as well as alienating a large number of their members who may now leave the co-op.

So, I say to the BDS activists: By all means avoid Israeli products and services, but do so completely and unequivocally by forgoing them all.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Let’s see how well you function without the wonders of Israel!

George Weiss

Brooklyn, N.Y.

It’s Time for Unity

I would like to respond to David Balsam (Letters, June 19) who criticized the letter that I had written two weeks ago regarding why so many Orthodox Jews, especially from the yeshivish and chassidish communities, did not participate in the recent NYC Israel parade. He justified their absence due to the fact that Israel allows a gay parade to take place in the country, which he equates as being as sinful as when Jews worshipped the Golden Calf. I won’t comment on the degree of sinfulness related to the gay lifestyle, but I do feel strongly about the need for unity among all Jews.

The one thing that should unite us all is our love and support for the Land of Israel, our spiritual homeland, especially in this current climate of explosive antisemitism and hatred towards Israel. By his focusing on one negative aspect of Israel, he is, as a result, ignoring all the many positive features of Israel, including the tremendous proliferation of Torah learning taking place there, not to mention that the Orthodox Jewish population in Israel has been greatly increasing while the non-observant Jewish population is instead moving in the opposite direction.

Such narrow perceptions remind me of the Meraglim who also denigrated the Land of Israel, believing it to be unhabitable because of the giant people and giant fruit that they encountered there, rather than focusing on the bigger picture, namely having greater faith in Hashem who would protect them as He had demonstrated so many times in both Egypt and in the Midbar. Having this narrow vision and actually slandering the Land of Israel resulted in their being punished by dying in the desert rather than being allowed to enter and live in our Promised Land.

History has repeated itself many times with your same narrow way of thinking. For example, in the pre-Nazi era, many European Orthodox Jews were discouraged by their spiritual leaders from emigrating to Israel because of the majority of secular Jews currently living there whom they feared would have a bad influence on them. Just think how many Jewish lives could have been saved if they had lived in Israel at the time of the Nazi regime. And even today, with the growing spread of antisemitism throughout the world including in our own country here, without Israel where else can Jews feel safe and be totally accepted?

You must realize that most non-Jews in America are not aware of the nuances within our Jewish world, and they only believe that the majority of American Jews are not very supportive of Israel, without knowing the many reasons why. I believe it is imperative for all Jews to demonstrate their total unconditional love and support for the Land of Israel – before another Holocaust is brought upon us. By not doing so, they are unwittingly helping to contribute to this mass antisemitism that is surging all around us and that will ultimately destroy all Galus Jewry.

Josh Rosenthal

Queens, N.Y.