Doubtful On Israel’s Motives

I am afraid I take a rather less charitable view than Abraham Foxman (“Humanitarian Concerns And Israeli Policies,” Opinion, May 8).

I think
the Israelis broadcast their aid to undeveloped nations during catastrophes
as a means of winning friends and seeking to compensate for the bad press
they get for their treatment of their own Arab population, not to mention the
ones under their military occupation. And I agree with Gideon Levy when he
writes in Haaretz that their aid would be better directed toward Gaza, where
they can do much more to end the blockade and facilitate rebuilding among a
population that has suffered as much as the Nepalese — but from Israeli bombs
rather than an earthquake. 


It is also time we stopped complaining about the continuing aspirations of
Palestinian leaders to destroy their state when there are interlocutors in a
position of some power in the West Bank who want to make peace with them but
whose legitimate aspirations the Israelis do not recognize.

I hope
humanitarianism is the “real Israel.”
But almost 50 years of military occupation with no prospect of an end
makes me wonder.