The Jewish Week asks, in a Dec. 17 Editorial (“Nixon And Kissinger”), if "support for Israel excuses every prejudice." But what was at stake in 1973 was not support for Israel but its very survival. In the Yom Kippur War Israel quickly lost one-fourth of its top fighter planes to Russian SAMs, and defeat was imminent. It was the Kissinger/Nixon airlift of a cargo plane every hour for 30 days that saved Israel.
In contrast George McGovern, who received most of the Jewish votes in his losing run for president in 1972, immediately called for a total boycott of arms to the Middle East when the Yom Kippur War started. It is not a stretch of imagination to state that Israel would have been defeated and destroyed if the liberal McGovern had been elected.
We don’t need people to love Jews or even be unprejudiced. We need people who have a visceral sense that a small state has the right to defend itself against rockets and terrorism.
New York, NY
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
