Unfortunately, many contemporary critics of Israel do not couple their criticisms with similar expressions of love.

One would never know, reading them, that millions of persecuted Jewish refugees from around the world, including hundreds of thousands of Jews expelled from Arab lands, found refuge in Israel, and that Israel transformed them into productive citizens.

One would never know, reading them, that Israel, in half a century, transformed itself from a third-world country into a first-world country, the Middle East’s only true democracy.

One would never know, reading them, that Israel’s Declaration of Independence, uniquely in the Middle East, promises “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.”

One would never know, reading them, that Israel’s economy booms and its desert blooms notwithstanding the refusal of some of its neighbors even to recognize its existence, and in spite of incessant rocket attacks and terrorist attacks aimed at its civilian population.

Indeed, some of Israel’s contemporary critics have eyes only for Israel’s shortcomings. Instead of celebrating its creation and recognizing its accomplishments, they mourn it as a “catastrophe,” believing that the world would be better off if Jews had no homeland of their own at all. Their motives in criticizing Israel are not to see it improved but to see it destroyed. The fact that this would lead to the massacre of Israel’s 5.5 million Jews, and deprive the rest of the world’s Jews of a refuge, seems to leave them unmoved.

In trying to discern how to distinguish legitimate prophetic criticisms of Israel from illegitimate ones, I have been greatly influenced by the words of Rabbi Jonathan in the Talmudic tractate of Tamid (28a): “He who reproves his neighbor with pure intent [‘in the name of heaven’] is worthy of a portion from God.” Criticism, Rabbi Jonathan implies, must be carefully evaluated: Much depends on the motives of the critic.

The unworthy critics today are easy to find. Unlike the great biblical prophets, their shrill voices are neither moderated by love nor tinged with sadness. Their desire is to see the Jewish state destroyed.

The worthy critics, by contrast, are more scarce. Alive to the realities of contemporary Israel and the tragedies of the twentieth century, their words mingle praise along with reproof. They speak directly, sadly, and always in pain. They are the rightful heirs of the biblical prophets, and the critics most worth heeding.