Soccer Dad

Krauthammer celebrates yom ha'atzamaut?

In his column "Never Again?" Charles Krauthammer implicitly celebrates Yom Ha'atzmaut

When something happens for the first time in 1,871 years, it is worth noting. In A.D. 70, and again in 135, the Roman Empire brutally put down Jewish revolts in Judea, destroying Jerusalem, killing hundreds of thousands of Jews and sending hundreds of thousands more into slavery and exile. For nearly two millennia, the Jews wandered the world. And now, in 2006, for the first time since then, there are once again more Jews living in Israel -- the successor state to Judea -- than in any other place on Earth.

But with that remarkable rebirth comes a great risk

The establishment of Israel was a Jewish declaration to a world that had allowed the Holocaust to happen -- after Hitler had made his intentions perfectly clear -- that the Jews would henceforth resort to self-protection and self-reliance. And so they have, building a Jewish army, the first in 2,000 years, that prevailed in three great wars of survival (1948-49, 1967 and 1973).

But in a cruel historical irony, doing so required concentration -- putting all the eggs back in one basket, a tiny territory hard by the Mediterranean, eight miles wide at its waist. A tempting target for those who would finish Hitler's work.

Krauthammer then makes the case that Hitler's successors are based in Tehran and are seeking nuclear weapons toward the end of finishing his work. And he accuses the world of standing by.

(Interesting, just a few days ago thousands of Jews were protesting a different - but current - danger using the phrase "Never Again" and variations.)

But Krauthammer is perhaps too kind. The world hasn't just stood by. It has challenged Israel's legitimacy time and again. By using the Palestinian stalking horse against Israel the world has weakened Israel and made Israel more vulnerable to the likes of Iran.

Seemingly Israel needs the permission of the world to defend itself and that can only encourage the likes of Iran.

Krauthammer has two other items with similar themes. One is At Last Zion and the other is his Guardian of Zion speech from four years ago. The first how Israel is essential to the survival of the Jews; the second is about the dangers of messianic pacifism.

Technorati tags: Israel, Iran, Judaism.

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Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.

Posted by SoccerDad at May 5, 2006 1:40 AM