I would like to strongly disagree with Jonathan Tobin’s assertion in the Jan. 5 edition of the Exponent (“Can US Jews Love the Real Israel or Only the Fantasy Version?”) that we should support Israel’s new government under virtually any circumstances.
My father left his home in Wilmington, Delaware, to fight in the Israeli army during the War for Independence. I’ve been a member of a Conservative synagogue my entire life, and I read Torah better than 95% of the boychiks in any of the haredi shuls in Israel. Why exactly should I support a government where half of its MPs don’t think I’m Jewish? There are innumerable ways to support Israel without supporting a government that has no regard for democratic principles. To quote my father recently when describing the political situation in Israel, “This isn’t what I went to Israel to fight for.”
David I. Schutzman, Philadelphia
Mr. Schutzman nobody is asking you to support any Israeli government, just support the survival of the only Jewish nation in the world even when you dislike a particular Israeli government. Put your politics aside when it comes to Israel, and back up its right to exist, which is under constant attack from many countries and organizations in the world.