(Boston Globe) Eran Lerman - The appearance by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before a joint session of Congress last Wednesday offered a keyhole understanding of the three interwoven threads that sustain the special relationship between the United States and Israel. The first thread is the strategic dimension, namely the common stand of Israel, the U.S., and like-minded nations against the same enemy, Islamist totalitarianism, with its terror methods, its culture of hate, and its cult of death. However, that thread also includes the common quest for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. The second thread is the affinity of values, which ranges from the power of biblical reference in the cultures of both nations to the ever-present remembrance of the Holocaust, and from the love of liberty to the exercise of a robust knowledge-based economy. The third thread is the unique role of American Jewry which, unlike all others in Jewish history, is made all the more American, not less so, by its close and committed association with Israel.
2006-05-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive