A member of the Jewish Theological Seminary’s rabbinic department says that the majority of members of the New Left are sympathetic to the State of Israel, although a minority is critical of Israel and supports the Arab side. According to Robert J. Saks, writing in the current issue of the Journal of Jewish Communal Science, “the rank and file of the New Left, especially of the Jews within it, are sympathetic to Israel. They appreciate the important role Israel plays as a haven to the survivors of the Holocaust. They are happy it exists and happy that it has triumphed in its fight against the Arabs. They are excited by the great strides Israel has made in developing their land. They are excited by the kibbutzim and the idealistic venture in human cooperation which they represent.”
The writer, whose appraisal of the New Left position differs sharply from most views of the New Left attitude on Israel, conceded that “some New Leftists follow a Soviet or Maoist line toward Israel which is quite hostile.” New Leftists, he said, find themselves at issue with Israel on a number of points. Among them he cited, was the fact that “Israel and America are allies.” And the New Left is “quite negative” about American policies, he said. Israel, they complain, “has never criticized U.S. policy in Vietnam.” Another issue, he said, was that “the New Left identifies with the nations of the Third World which are trying to throw off the yoke of foreign exploitation. The Arabs foster that image of themselves.”
Other points at issue, he asserted, were Israel’s alleged use of napalm in the June, 1967 war; Israel’s policy on Arab refugees; the eviction of Arabs from the old Jewish quarter in the Old City and Israel’s “imperialist policies” in the occupied areas. Mr. Saks warned that when the time comes, the minority within the New Left that supports the Arab side will have “the space and energy” to deal with the Middle East, “a lot of young people stand in danger of being influenced by them. This,” he said, “presents a challenge to us all.”
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.
