American Jewish organizations came under fire for their “apologetic behavior” concerning Israel’s military action in Lebanon. Arthur Goldberg, a former Supreme Court Justice and a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, told a meeting of the Chicago Friends of Bar llan University last week, “This behavior is totally out of touch with the feelings of the vast majority of their constituencies.”
Goldberg said he could not comprehend “the unjustifiable need” of leaders of major Jewish organizations to apologize to the American people for Israel’s policy in connection with the war in Lebanon. He declared: “Israelis promptly acted in accordance with their Jewish values by demanding a full-scale investigation of any involvement with the killing of Palestinian refugees (in west Beirut camps) by Christian militiamen.”
He added: “Certainly there is reason to be proud of Israel and her citizens who — in the midst of a campaign against their sworn enemy, the PLO — are demanding that justice be done. It is not immoral to fight one’s enemy, but it is extraordinary to demand such high standards of one’s self during wartime.” Goldberg also scored the “double standard of morality” being applied to Israel by the world community in connection with the massacres.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
