When Will They Ever Learn… Why do so many American Jews hate the president who stands by Israel?

The Weekly Standard ^ | July 31, 2006 | David Gelernter

[quidnunc]

For years I have watched the Palestinians do absurdly self-destructive things, and have never understood them until now. But watching the Bush administration stoutly defend Israel this week against the background of an American Jewish population that vocally (often sneeringly) dislikes him and his administration, and consistently votes by massive majorities for his Democratic opponents, I start to understand the Palestinians just a little.

American Jews are not Palestinians and have not sunk to the level of supporting terrorist murderers. But their behavior is a lesson in self-destructive nihilism that could teach even the Palestinians a thing or two. U.S. Jews remain fervent supporters of an American left that is increasingly unable or unwilling to say why Israel must exist. Of course American Jews, like all Americans, define their interests in terms of many issues and not just one. But there is a reason why so many used to put Israel's safety near the top of their lists: Israel has been caught in a life-or-death struggle since birth; American support is critical to her survival.

True: Jewish support for President Bush moved upward in the 2004 election relative to the 2000 figures. It moved all the way up to 25 percent. During the five presidential elections of the 1970s and '80s, American Jews averaged 35 percent support for the Republican candidate, so 25 percent for Bush in '04 was not exactly a landslide move to the GOP. But even this pint-sized move seems to have petered out earlier this year. Jack Abramoff does not make an attractive spokesman for Jewish Republicans. The fall of Tom DeLay silenced one of the best friends Israel ever had in American politics, and one of the most effective symbols of Republican support for Israel. So the pattern of the '90s is likely to continue: American Jews move left as the left moves away from Israel.

-snip-

[Iam1ru1-2]

I believe that most liberal Jews don't care if Israel falls off the map is because as long as Israel exists, the prophecy of God Almighty that Israel will NEVER cease to be a nation after the second return still stands, and it makes them uncomfortable that they may have to believe that Israel is Supernaturally protected which leads to the fact the there is a God who chose Israel out of all the peoples of the world as His own, AND because of it, they are OBLIGATED to OBEY his commandments, statues, laws, and feasts which were never annuled in the Jewish Laws. That makes them uncomfortable whenever they do "there own thing" instead of doing "God's thing" - obeying his commandments, laws statutes and feasts. If Israel ceased to exist, that makes God a liar, and therefore not God at all, and therefore they can dismiss that there is a God and can do whatever they want without the feeling of guilt.

[NorCalRepub]

...no kidding...I saw an synopsis on this the other day and you are right on...the evangelical or even just the plain old right is a stronger proponent to Israel then American Jews....who many seem to be agnostic about the whole thing.....

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

It seems to me from this article and if you include history jews are their own worst enemy.Lessons should be learned but they are not so i am afraid this sort of thing will only repeat itself.It seems as if there is no gratitude for what America has done and it also seems that despite everything else,the jewish people hate christians the way arab countries hate the jews.

[Huck]

You're missing the point. They aren't looking for Israel's best friend. They don't respect Israel any more than they respect America.

[Huck]

Possibly. I doubt it, though. I think it's possible a lot of religious conservatives support Israel in order to confirm their beliefs. I think lefties' lack of support is due to their leftism. They don't fear God. They fear strong, right wing governments.

[xxyyxx]

It seems they have had a soft spot for communism in the past also.

[adorno]

A question needs to be posed to the Jews in America:

If it came down to choosing between Republicans and the guaranteed defense of Israel, and democrats who would be non-committal and would let Israel fend for itself in a major war with no American help, which would you choose?

[Jeff Chandler]

Who can understand?

Who knows?

[quidnunc]

INSENSITIVE GUY wrote: …the jewish people hate christians the way arab countries hate the jews.

Many politically-conservative Jews are actually well-disposed towards the Christian Religious Right.

But many other Jews are very bitter towards Evangelical Christians, apparently for two principal reasons:

1. Because Evangelicals attempt to convert Jews to Christianity, and, more importantly…

2. because the Evangelicals believe that anyone who hasn't accepted Jesus as his personal savior is destined to spend eternity in Hell.

Evidently this second point bothhers many Jews a great deal.

[johnny7]

Welcome... to FreeRepublic.

[gcruse]

" I think lefties' lack of support is due to their leftism. They don't fear God. They fear strong, right wing governments."

It's my understanding Israel's government is mostly socialist. Not right wing by any stretch.

[hellbender]

I think many American Jews came from areas, esp. Russia, where the right was identified in their minds with anti-Semitism, authoritarianism, and corrupt government-established "Christian" churches. The opposition to these anti-Semitic regimes was leftist, so Jews gravitated to leftist movements. When they came to America, they transferred their old-World hatred to American conservatism and American Christianity, failing to recognize that these were different from Euro versions.
Also, if you look back to Old Testament times, you see that the Jewish people have always been divided between the faithful and God-fearing (like today's Orthodox), and the apostates who followed alien gods (like those today who follow the "god" of socialism). Jews are just mankind in microcosm.

[ThreePuttinDude]

Most Jewish men I know seem to be hen pecked.
Most of them are not religious...only culturally Jewish

This is consistent with most libs....the men are feminized
and the women want to wear the pants and jockey shorts.

[wtc911]

These are the same people that voted the hildebeast into the WH for 8 years, loved her when she kissed Suha araRATfink even though Suha hates the jewish people, gave her the NY senator's position for 4 years and for another 4 years and will vote her in the WH. Who can understand? I don't.

------------------------------------------------

Gee, Hillary was President already? And there are that many Jewish voters that they put her there? Who knew?

[oldbrowser]

American Jews are not Palestinians and have not sunk to the level of supporting terrorist murderers. But their behavior is a lesson in self-destructive nihilism that could teach even the Palestinians a thing or two.

This is because all the courageous and noble Jews left the U.S. for Israel years ago. All we have left here is the cowardly parasites that want someone else to fight their battles for them.

[ThreePuttinDude]

Remember the time she responded to a reporter "We are the President"

[nathanbedford]

People seem to think leftist American Jews should someone overcome their lefty ways because they should feel allegiance to Israel. But hello! American lefties don't even feel allegiance to AMERICA--their own country! Why would they be any better vis a vis Israel. It doesn't make sense to be baffled by this.

A very very good point and well put.

By definition, leftists hate God (because they have an unquenchable need to be God and the place He occupies in the order of things just naturally gets in their way) and they despise believers. This was true of Trotsky and it is true of America's secular Jews who have no time for God, country, or Israel or for those who do. It cannot be said too often because it is fundamental to an understanding of the Liberal's psyche, he hates God because he would be God.

I was once told by a self proclaimed Marxist who was a secular Jew, "at Christmas the goyam get crazy but at Easter they get dangerous." I've always felt that this remark betrayed of a whole baggage load of prejudice carried by this former college professor. It reveals a contempt for religion, in this case Christianity, as being it stupid and irrational. But it also expresses in the second half of the remark a long-held fear among Jews that they will become the victims of a Christian pogrom in American. Why would they not think that? Why would not stupid, irrational and crazy Christians not be prone to conducting a stupid, irrational and crazy pogrom?

Leftists also hate America because they hate the nation state. They are on a March after all toward playing God and God rules the whole universe. Hence, liberals always strive to increase their jurisdiction. No entity on earth, not even the Vatican, represents a greater obstacle to gaining the Liberal Promised Land: One World Government. Believing American Christians commit a secondary sin, they are patriotic so they support a nation state, America, which frustrates the Liberal dream every day.

[JohnLongIsland]

like any other religion, when the people abandon G-D and substitute the state, this is the end result.

[Brian Allen]

<< Every so often the ADL's Abe Foxman delivers another of his anti-Evangelical Christian rants — apparently as a fund-raising fetcher.

In view of the fact that the Religious Right is the most potent pro-Israel political force in America today, I can't help but view Foxman and his ilk as unmitigated ingrates. >>

Hear! Hear!

BUMPping