The great Tony Judt, on target in the New York Times. Yes, the New York Times. You rock, Times. Read the whole piece. A small excerpt that touches on my politics. I think some of the strands have to be unwound a little bit more here, but this is good:
criticism of Israel, increasingly from non-Israeli Jews, is not predominantly motivated by anti-Semitism. The same is true of contemporary anti-Zionism: Zionism itself has moved a long way from the ideology of its “founding fathers” — today it presses territorial claims, religious exclusivity and political extremism. One can acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and still be an anti-Zionist (or “post-Zionist”). Indeed, given the emphasis in Zionism on the need for the Jews to establish a “normal state” for themselves, today’s insistence on Israel’s right to act in “abnormal” ways because it is a Jewish state suggests that Zionism has failed.
Oh and note Judt’s realist wisdom. So the Fukuyamas and the Mearsheimers and the Lievens and Desches are all meeting at the crossroads. (Compare to Steven A. Cook of CFR insisting that the U.S. must now turn against Turkey).
Along with the oil sheikdoms, Israel is now America’s greatest strategic liability in the Middle East and Central Asia. Thanks to Israel, we are in serious danger of “losing” Turkey:
