Archive for May, 2009
Getting it wrong with the Pope
Any discussion amongst Jews relating to the Catholic Church invariably triggers off emotional responses. But even taking this into account, the rage displayed by some Israelis against the conduct of Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Israel was unwarranted.
I have no particular axe to grind for Catholics. I have consistently deplored the inclination of Jews engaged in interreligious dialogue to grovel and compromise basic Jewish principles in order to advance their careers in interfaith activity. Nor do I minimize the centuries of bloody persecution of the Jews orchestrated by the Church which laid the foundations for the Holocaust.
Moreover, I have never hesitated criticizing Pope Benedict, in particular his support for the beatification of Pope Pius XII having regard to the latter’s cowardly silence and questionable role during the Shoah.
Obama, Netanyahu and American Jews
It was with mixed feelings that I returned from New York after extensive discussions with a wide range of American Jewish leaders.
The outcome of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s forthcoming meeting with President Barack Obama will indicate the probable direction of the relationship with our most crucial ally and arms supplier. Optimists predict that a conflict is unlikely to materialize now. They argue that Obama has sufficient on his plate with the economic crisis, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran without seeking a confrontation with Israel which could also lead to domestic friction. Besides, public opinion is still overwhelmingly pro-Israel and Congress remains strongly supportive.
Yet the accumulation of negative signals over the past weeks is highly disconcerting. Whatever Obama’s genuine personal views may be, clearly he is strongly pressured by left-wing Democrats and Europeans to adopt a tougher, even anti-Israel approach. Some of his key aides blame Israel for the region’s problems and believe that the only way for the US to build bridges with Islam is to distance itself from the Jewish state. Obama’s new policies of “engaging” with rogue states and striving to modify the behavior of tyrants by persuasion have ominous parallels with the appeasement policies of Europe in the 1930s. It is probably not coincidental that the Czech Republic is the European country most supportive of Israel.
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