In his column, “Pushing Morality, A Victim Of Myopia” (March 23), Gary Rosenblatt challenges Peter Beinart’s argument that “settlements are the key to Israel’s future.” It’s true that Israel has other major threats from Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. But what Rosenblatt fails to recognize is that Israel’s partners for peace/defense will multiply exponentially once the settlement problem is resolved and there are two democratic states living side by side.
And regardless of whether Beinart’s Zionist BDS was intended to be taken seriously or symbolically, he has definitely accomplished one important thing with The New York Times op-ed he wrote. By placing this extreme position on the table, he nudged J Street further into the mainstream of pro-Israel discourse. For this he should be commended.
Manhattan
