In his online column for The New York Times this week, Roger Cohen blames Israel for America’s wars. He writes that Israeli-Palestinian
Peace is a vital American interest for many reasons, including its inalienable commitment to Israel’s long-term security, but the most pressing is that the conflict is a jihadist recruitment tool that feeds the wars in which young Americans die.
Last time I checked, the conflict in Iraq was the making of an American who had a gripe against Saddam’s Iraq (George W. Bush), and the conflict in Afghanistan the making of a Saudi who had numerous gripes against the West (Osama bin Laden).
Cohen has every right to his perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (for more, read his column, which welcomes the cooling off of U.S.-Israel ties), but blaming the Jewish state for America’s wars the world over peddles a falsehood that perpetuates a dangerous worldview that sees the Jews as blameworthy for the world’s problems.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
