Israel’s New Law: Help or Hindrance?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/opinion/letters/israel.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Israel Enshrines Rights for Jews” (front page, July 20):

In my 30 years as a leader in the American Jewish community, I have never seen the degree of alienation felt by American Jews toward the Jewish state.

Because the new law, as you report, “omits any mention of democracy or the principle of equality” (between Israel’s Jewish and minority Arab populations), it diminishes the importance of these attributes in today’s Israel. Yet the overwhelming majority of American Jews have cherished Israel so deeply as the embodiment of these qualities.

This law is unnecessary: Who seriously questions Israel’s status as the nation-state of the Jewish people?

Genuine support for Israel from the United States — whether the American people, Congress or a president — is not guaranteed. I worry as I see it eroding.

Seymour D. ReichNew YorkThe writer is a former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

To the Editor:

Critics of Israel denounce Israeli policies and conveniently ignore those same policies when carried out by European countries. The reality is that Israel’s new law codifying it as a Jewish state would not be out of place in liberal Europe. Britain is a Christian country, in that it has an official church. In the Middle East, of course, Iran is an Islamic republic. Where are the critics?

Israel was established as a home for the Jewish people. It is time to say forthrightly what Israel stands for and the reasons for its existence. Israel has a right to legislate and determine its own identity, as any other country does.

There is nothing undemocratic or unusual about the law; it recognizes and protects Israel’s Jewish identity. Israel has given Jews a national home and the ability to defend themselves. This deserves recognition and celebration.

Daniel G. DolgicerTel AvivThe writer is a graduate student in government at IDC Herzliya, an Israeli university.