The widespread moral outrage at Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank—the sense that Israel is violating the basic ethical values of Judaism—is coupled with a growing realization that these policies are also bad for Israel and bad for the Jewish people. Granted, some of Israel’s current critics have been unfair, both in their failure to acknowledge the role of Palestinian leaders and Arab states in creating the conflict, and in their tendency to judge Israel by standards that they rarely apply to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, from the standpoint of Jewish ethics and Jewish survival the occupation is unacceptable. There are plausible solutions to the Palestinian problem that must be tried. But they won’t be tried unless American Jews unequivocally tell Israel that the occupation cannot continue. This message must be conveyed forcefully to Prime Minister Shamir and to the Israeli public.
The pain and...
