Does Israel have to be hated?

Martin Sherman, an incisive, out-of-the-box thinker, has an interesting op-ed today on ynetnews.com called "Entire world is not against us. "The truth," he says,

is that in many countries across the globe, there are huge pools of enthusiastic support for Israel.. . .
For example take the Evangelical Movement, which constitutes an enormous and rapidly-growing segment of humanity . . . from the Americas through Africa and into Asia. With estimated membership of between 500 million and one billion, and increasing economic and political clout, this is a group that is staunchly . . . pro-Israel.

There's no doubt he's right regarding the U.S. Evangelicals, an enormous asset for Israel. How politically significant, or potentially political significant, are the Evangelicals in Africa and Asia is more open to question.

He then goes on to mention the "suppression of women (gender apartheid) and the persecution of all non-Muslim religions (creed apartheid) across the Arab and Islamic world" as "sensitive pressure points" Israel could use to "alienate liberal Western support from its opponents." Again, interesting, but debatable--much of the Western elite now actually seems drawn to the bad-boy image of the Arab and Muslim world the way they were once drawn to the bad-boy image of the communist bloc.

In any case, why does Israel--undeniably--hardly even try to exploit these possible advantages? Sherman says:

The key to the answer lies in the worldview of the entrenched elites in Israeli society. . . .

This worldview, motivated more by socio-cultural animosity for their domestic adversaries rather than any genuine affinity for the national interest, cannot be reconciled with an accurate portrayal of the Arab world – especially the Palestinians – as a viciously cruel and intolerant society permeated by violence and corruption at almost all levels.

Admirably on-target. This has always been my dominant impression of the chattering classes both in the U.S. and Israel- "motivated more by socio-cultural animosity for their domestic adversaries" than by anything else. People who hate Bush that much, or the Evangelicals, or "the settlers," or Netanyahu, don't seem to have much psychic energy left to cope with real enemies or to identify powerfully with the national interest when so much of the nation is so loathsome to them.

Still, I admit that I've had a more mystical reaction to the growing Israel-hatred, to Israel becoming "the Jew of the nations," with learned professors, both Jewish and non-Jewish, writing essays explaining why it should cease to exist--etc., etc. A hatred that starts to look ontological, inevitable, and inescapable. Thanks to Martin Sherman for making me wonder if that's too fatalistic. Thanks to the Evangelicals for making me know that, even if it's accurate, Israel does have a whole community of devoted friends.

 

Comments

[Shalom Freedman]

In Israel I think the resentment of the 'chattering classes' to the 'settlers' is more than socio-economic. It is also cultural and religious. It is a secular elite that opposes a largely religious settler movement. It is also an elite which wishes to see itself as cosmpolitan, and not bound down by parochial local Jewish interests.