The first failure in self-defense often happens before the attack. A person sees the warning signs and explains them away. He questions his judgment, looks for his own mistakes, and finds reasons to excuse the person moving toward him.

Some Jews on the radical left are making the same mistake.

They see hostility gathering around the Jewish people, yet much of their moral attention remains fixed on Israel’s imperfections. They condemn Israel, separate themselves from Zionists, and attack other Jews who recognize the threat.

Some appear to believe this will protect them. If they criticize Israel loudly enough, perhaps the people who hate Israel will accept them as “good Jews.”

This is an old and dangerous illusion.

A person who wants to kill Jews will not examine their voting records first. He will not read their social media posts to see whether they condemned Netanyahu, opposed the war, or marched against Israel.

The “good Jew” remains a Jew to the person who wants Jews dead.

Israel has flaws because every country is built and governed by imperfect people. Israelis can challenge their government, replace leaders, investigate failures, and fight over policy. These arguments happen every day inside Israel.

Public Jewish criticism enters a different environment when Israel is facing a global campaign that describes its existence as a crime. The criticism becomes ammunition, regardless of the speaker’s intention.

Jewish voices are used to validate claims that Israel is genocidal, colonial, illegitimate, and undeserving of survival. Their Jewish identity becomes the evidence. The people repeating these accusations can say, “Even Jews admit it.”

This provides moral cover.

An accusation that might sound openly antisemitic suddenly appears credible........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)