The Liberal Case for Israel

[oberliner]

Excerpt:

Rather, as a card-carrying member of America's center-left -- those of us who call ourselves liberals, progressives and/or mainstream Democrats -- I write to share with my ideological fellow travelers a much-under-publicized reality: That Israel is not simply the region's only democracy and the U.S.'s strongest ally; but that the Jewish State also models liberal and progressive values as well as -- or even better -- than any other nation today.

I don't pretend that Israel is perfect. Like the U.S., a vocal minority of Biblical literalists hold disproportionate sway over public policy. Like the U.S., far-Right politicos stoke public anger by demonizing minority groups. And like the U.S., terrorist attacks on the homeland sometimes provoke official overreaction. (Of course, in Israel, every day is 9/12).

But flaws and all, the state of Israel is a modern exemplar of the liberal credo proclaimed by the dying Happy Warrior, Hubert Humphrey, in 1977:

The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life -- the sick, the needy and the handicapped.


My recent trip to Israel illustrated eloquently how that country aces Humphrey's moral test.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathanmiller/the-liberal-case-for-isra_b_1114880.html