Israel Matzav: Sarah Palin and Israel

Sarah Palin and Israel

On Monday, I took Sarah Palin to task for endorsing Rand Paul and for her gushing enthusiasm for his father, the isolationist Ron Paul. I have since been taken to task by my friend Michael Fenenbock, who is far more politically savvy than I am (Google his name to see why), who told me "The Paul family. Who cares? If you're looking for purity, go to shul. You won't find it in politics." So with that in mind....

Writing in National Review on Thursday, Jay Nordlinger had this to say about Palin and Israel:

Speaking of Palin: I think I commented once that, while governor, she had an Israeli flag in her office. What does Israel have to do with Palin, and vice versa? Well, nothing. But I imagine she feels solidarity with the country: because it is under siege, defamed, plucky, admirable — often heroic. (Although it would rather not be heroic, believe me. It would rather have a quiet life.) I feel the same solidarity — the same solidarity I’m guessing Palin does. If Israel had no enemies, or the normal quotient of enemies, I imagine I would go months and months without ever thinking of the country, the way I do, say, Uruguay.

I noticed that, at the tea-party convention the other day, Palin wore a “small pin with two flags,” as one account put it: “for Israel and the United States.” This is a little . . . unusual. Some might even find it creepy. But, again, I understand, or think I do. And I thought of something that Charles Krauthammer and I discussed, when I interviewed him for a National Review profile last fall. Hang on, let me just excerpt that profile, if I may:

Many Jews, particularly American ones, are nervous or scornful about the support that American evangelicals have shown for Israel. They say that this support is double-edged, or bad news, or embarrassing. Krauthammer will have none of it. “I embrace their support unequivocally and with gratitude. And when I speak to Jewish groups, whether it’s on the agenda or not, I make a point of scolding them. I say, ‘You may not want to hear this, and you may not have me back, but I’m going to tell you something: It is disgraceful, un-American, un-Jewish, ungrateful, the way you treat people who are so good to the Jewish people. We are almost alone in the world. And here we have 50 million Americans who willingly and enthusiastically support us. You’re going to throw them away, for what? Because of your prejudice.’ Oh, I give ’em hell.”

I bet he does.

Jeff Jacoby, whom I have thus far only eyed from a distance in synagogue in Boston, and to whom I have yet to introduce myself, sent Nordlinger an email in response to that column. With Jeff's permission, Nordlinger shared the email with his readers in The Corner. For those of you who have been critical of Palin, I think the email and Nordlinger's entry are worth reading.

Read it all.

Dear Jay,

Apropos Sarah Palin’s visible support for Israel: It goes deeper than mere support. I was struck, during her debate with Joe Biden in the ’08 campaign, by the way she spoke so unapologetically and matter-of-factly about feeling “love” for Israel. I just looked up the transcript of that debate, and there is a point when she says, “I’m so encouraged to know that we both love Israel, and I think that is a good thing to get to agree on, Senator Biden. I respect your position on that.” She didn’t say it with any pointed emphasis — it came out as if it were the most natural sentiment in the world.

...

Have you ever heard any other American politician speak on a national stage about “loving” Israel? I never have. But such ardor is common among great numbers of Christian Zionists. Like Krauthammer, I am appalled by the hostility or suspicion so many (liberal) American Jews harbor toward evangelical Christians who embrace Israel. When I speak to Jewish audiences, I often tell them about the woman who called me one day from deep in bayou country after reading a column of mine on the Middle East. In her thick Louisiana accent she told me how she prays daily for Israel, and how in her front yard she has two flagpoles: one flying the Star-Spangled Banner and one flying the Israeli flag. And then I ask my audience how many of them fly an Israeli flag in their yard. Of course none of them would ever do such a thing — it would be too awkward, too parochial, too embarrassing. But this Louisiana Christian lady doesn’t worry about such things — she loves Israel and wants the world to know it.

Sarah Palin is like that too, and so are many, many Christian Zionists I have had the honor of meeting. I bless such people. I wish more of my fellow American Jews did likewise.

For the record, Jacoby is Orthodox (as you may have figured out from my saying that I have seen him in synagogue) and Krauthammer grew up Orthodox but is no longer. Maybe that's why they're secure enough in their Jewish identities not to fear that all those Christians who support Israel are not seeking our demise.

Yes, I know, there are Christian missionaries out there who want to convert us. Sarah Palin isn't one of them. Whatever else you may say about Sarah Palin, I want all you Israelis to feel secure - and appreciate - that she LOVES us. Who else in this world loves us other than our families? Maybe it's time we started requiting some of that love.

Israel Matzav: Sarah Palin and Israel