A great article. One comment: Israelis are overwhelmingly secular. Most of world Jews are either totally secular or moderately conservative. The idea of " pro-life" is not embraced in Israel politically or even mentioned in public discourse. Abortion is legal. Even the rabbis were never inflexible about it. Judaism is ever evolving and openminded. With the exception of family matters ( marriage, birth, divorce) and conversions, in which Israel unfortunately is a theocracy, in everything else there is separation of church and state.
Got it. I can also add that there are important organizations in Israel which help expecting mothers that otherwise would abort a child, such as teenage or very poor women, to bring the child to life, and help to care for it afterwards. This is out of both religious conviction and of a zionist drive to grow the Israeli population.
The Founding Fathers wouldn’t have minded abortion so much. They were generally Mainline Protestant and were secular minded. Washington was an Anglican/Episcoaplian, Adams was a deist who was raised Jefferson and identified as a Christian. Jews don’t mind abortion so much either. In Israel it’s legal and while the ultra-Orthodox don’t get abortions themselves except in exceptional circumstances, they don’t lobby to ban it.
It’s really only Evangelicals and Catholics who get so worked up about this issue. Evangelicalism expands later because the Scotts-Irish have a lot of kids and because of the second great awakening in the 1840s. Catholicism comes to the Us through immigration from Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and so on.
It's a false connection, and entirely unnecessary to make the justifiable criticism of mindless support for a culture that is antiipathetic to our own. It's surely a safe bet that the majority of progressives Americans are still patrotic, whatever their views on birth control, etc.
This is why the cowardice of the Jewish Democrats - 31 Senators and Congressmen - is such a blow to protecting the Jewish project in America. So many are liberal Jews with no attachment to Israel and we can see that in their refusal to publicly stand for Israel in the past 22 months. It extends to the Jewish celebrities and editors and business execs who remain mute or worse - betray Israel.
The Kapo Jews include people like Senators Ossoff and Sanders and Congresswomen Balint, Jacobs and Schakowsky, who supported a bill to embargo US arms to Israel. Former members of the Obama White House like Peter Beinart and Ben Rhodes, who vilify Israel publicly. We have failed ourselves, which makes it difficult for Christians to stand with us.
The bundling effect described here is not limited to the US or to the issue of Israel;. People do not choose issues. They choose narratives. Much of ideology is unconscious, which is why seemingly unrelated matters, such as support for Israel and opposition to abortion, are bundled together among American conservatives, even though there is no logical connection between the two (Judaism, incidentally, allows abortions). But there is an underlying narrative of Judeo-Christian values which underpins American conservatism. Israel itself has different narratives, which are not easily translated into American political configurations. This often leads to misunderstandings. Abortion is really not a political issue in Israel, even among the ultra-Orthodox, but the sanctity of Sabbath is. Governments fell because repairs were done on a Saturday. A different bundle, a different narrative, and a different politics. But the underlying chasm between right and left is as obvious in Israel as in the US, even if the sides are defined differently.
Hamas has rarely been called on to end the useless "jihad" against Israel. It has been a one-sided call for Israel to capitulate right from the beginning. The blood had not dried from the 10/07 attack yet the NYC DSA called for a ceasefire from Israel. The campus agitations across the US has hardened the public relations in the popular media against Israel, never mentioning that the Hamas Islamic belief urges the martyrdom of Palestinians.
Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran knew they could never win a battle but they have invested over the years in placing support in the media and academia. It appears they may have won. Trump's knees are getting weak, Sanders ready to throw Israel to the Islamic hordes surrounding them.
A great article. One comment: Israelis are overwhelmingly secular. Most of world Jews are either totally secular or moderately conservative. The idea of " pro-life" is not embraced in Israel politically or even mentioned in public discourse. Abortion is legal. Even the rabbis were never inflexible about it. Judaism is ever evolving and openminded. With the exception of family matters ( marriage, birth, divorce) and conversions, in which Israel unfortunately is a theocracy, in everything else there is separation of church and state.
True, but my point is that most pro-Israel candidates are also pro-life.
Got it. I can also add that there are important organizations in Israel which help expecting mothers that otherwise would abort a child, such as teenage or very poor women, to bring the child to life, and help to care for it afterwards. This is out of both religious conviction and of a zionist drive to grow the Israeli population.
The Founding Fathers wouldn’t have minded abortion so much. They were generally Mainline Protestant and were secular minded. Washington was an Anglican/Episcoaplian, Adams was a deist who was raised Jefferson and identified as a Christian. Jews don’t mind abortion so much either. In Israel it’s legal and while the ultra-Orthodox don’t get abortions themselves except in exceptional circumstances, they don’t lobby to ban it.
It’s really only Evangelicals and Catholics who get so worked up about this issue. Evangelicalism expands later because the Scotts-Irish have a lot of kids and because of the second great awakening in the 1840s. Catholicism comes to the Us through immigration from Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and so on.
It's a false connection, and entirely unnecessary to make the justifiable criticism of mindless support for a culture that is antiipathetic to our own. It's surely a safe bet that the majority of progressives Americans are still patrotic, whatever their views on birth control, etc.
Yes, Israel is the front line of Western Civilization. Great column.
This is why the cowardice of the Jewish Democrats - 31 Senators and Congressmen - is such a blow to protecting the Jewish project in America. So many are liberal Jews with no attachment to Israel and we can see that in their refusal to publicly stand for Israel in the past 22 months. It extends to the Jewish celebrities and editors and business execs who remain mute or worse - betray Israel.
The Kapo Jews include people like Senators Ossoff and Sanders and Congresswomen Balint, Jacobs and Schakowsky, who supported a bill to embargo US arms to Israel. Former members of the Obama White House like Peter Beinart and Ben Rhodes, who vilify Israel publicly. We have failed ourselves, which makes it difficult for Christians to stand with us.
The bundling effect described here is not limited to the US or to the issue of Israel;. People do not choose issues. They choose narratives. Much of ideology is unconscious, which is why seemingly unrelated matters, such as support for Israel and opposition to abortion, are bundled together among American conservatives, even though there is no logical connection between the two (Judaism, incidentally, allows abortions). But there is an underlying narrative of Judeo-Christian values which underpins American conservatism. Israel itself has different narratives, which are not easily translated into American political configurations. This often leads to misunderstandings. Abortion is really not a political issue in Israel, even among the ultra-Orthodox, but the sanctity of Sabbath is. Governments fell because repairs were done on a Saturday. A different bundle, a different narrative, and a different politics. But the underlying chasm between right and left is as obvious in Israel as in the US, even if the sides are defined differently.
Amen and Amen!🙏
The radical left uniting with jihadists has been terrifying to witness. I believe we need to define this alliance to fight it. Please read:
https://thegoldenpill.substack.com/p/neo-jihadism-is-here
Hamas has rarely been called on to end the useless "jihad" against Israel. It has been a one-sided call for Israel to capitulate right from the beginning. The blood had not dried from the 10/07 attack yet the NYC DSA called for a ceasefire from Israel. The campus agitations across the US has hardened the public relations in the popular media against Israel, never mentioning that the Hamas Islamic belief urges the martyrdom of Palestinians.
Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran knew they could never win a battle but they have invested over the years in placing support in the media and academia. It appears they may have won. Trump's knees are getting weak, Sanders ready to throw Israel to the Islamic hordes surrounding them.
Do you have a source for the statistics you cited of support for Israel?
Thank you! Good piece.