I want to thank Dana Milbank for writing his column in defense of Chuck Hagel. I don’t want Chuck Hagel to be our next Secretary of Defense, but that’s not the point. We need people, and particularly Jewish-Americans, to come to the defense of those who support Israel but are sometimes very critical of their policies. I think it is a big mistake for AIPAC or the ADL or neo-conservatives to throw the anti-Semitism label at people who have never shown any anti-Jewish animus. I’ve had right-wing blogs accuse me of anti-Semitism because of criticisms I’ve made of Israel’s policies, and it doesn’t make me more of a supporter of Israel. I shrug that stuff off, but not without a certain degree of irritation and impatience.
Let’s be frank for a moment. It isn’t easy to be a supporter of Israel. It may be easy for those who seek high office in the United States, but that’s about where the comfort zone ends. Israel has been losing legitimacy in the eyes of the world for decades now. It simply isn’t possible to defend their expansion of the settlements, and that makes it harder to defend everything else they do.
In my opinion, as Israel pursues its own self-defense they too often do damage to their own self-interest. I have opposed their policies as much for the harm they do to Israelis as the Palestinians. When people make this argument, they should not be called anti-Semitic. It’s misguided both because it is wrong and unfair, and because it pushes allies away.
If Chuck Hagel isn’t pro-Israel enough to be Secretary of Defense, then a lot of people are going to feel like maybe they don’t feel like being pro-Israel anymore.