Disconcerting NYT editorial about American Jews and Israel

By Ed Lasky

The tone of this editorial in today's NYT is more than a little disconcerting. Aside from the rote "Israel strangling Palestinian economy" and casting doubt on Israeli sincerity to restrain settlers comes this statement:

As a step toward peace, Israel must freeze all settlements and reduce the roadblocks in the West Bank that are strangling the Palestinian economy. To do so, the Israeli government needs the public support of American Jews and moderate Israelis against militants who seek political change through violence.

This seems a roundabout way to place responsibility for Palestinian problems on American Jews who support Israel. Certainly, if Jews are in a position of power to influence Israel then American Jews might also share the blame for the actions that have already taking place. To me this is an unwarranted implicit accusation that raises qualms on several levels (the dual loyalty canard, the conflating of American Jews with Israelis, the belief that American Jews are all-powerful, the scapegoating of American Jews for problems in the Middle East).

Furthermore, tens of millions of Christians support Israel and the American-Israel alliance. Israeli actions are not the responsibility of America's few million Jews (some of whom are Israel's harshest critics).