If criticism of Israel somehow makes one an anti-Semite or less than a faithful Jew, then Israel itself is full of anti-Semites, most of them faithful Jews.
Anyone who reads the Israeli press knows that Israel's national sport is self-criticism, often in the most vitriolic and personal terms. On the day I am writing this, for example, I found a reference to a remark made by an Israeli judge. He suggested Israel is becoming as corrupt as Sicily.
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of that observation, but I can say that several of the country's top politicians, including the prime minister, are under investigation. I can also say - not withstanding the facts - that if a non-Israeli had made such a colorful comparison (Sicily! the Mafia! Goyim gone wild!), he would have been instantly accused of anti-Semitism or, if Jewish himself, of aiding and abetting anti-Semitism.
Frequently I've been asked by Israeli journalists why I get criticized for writing columns that in Israel itself would be considered tame. The obvious answer is that my feet are not planted in Israel and so my sympathies are not taken for granted. Nonetheless, certain elements of the American Jewish community are much too quick to confuse genuine and often constructive criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, thereby silencing voices that Israel (and America) desperately needs to hear.
The recent war in Lebanon was a mistake. Retaining the West Bank is a mistake. That's needed criticism, not anti-Semitism. To call it otherwise trivializes genuine Jew hatred, an offense against memory itself. Criticism may sting, but anti-Semitism kills.
(Richard Cohen is a columnist for the Washington Post.)
