Those who make hatred of the world's only Jewish state part of their moral and political doctrines - by Aaron Kliegman

Criticizing Israel is fine, but demonizing and delegitimizing the Jewish state crosses a clear, red line, into the realm of something much worse. When progressives discard the truth to demonize Israel, they also demonize the Jewish community, whether they know it or not. They are creating an environment hostile toward Jews—an environment that, one day, may make Jews in the West that much more grateful for having Israel as a refuge.

Aaron Kliegman..
Freebeacon.com..
25 July '19..

In February, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) received a well-deserved backlash after she accused American politicians of supporting Israel because of the "Benjamins," referencing money and America's foremost pro-Israel lobbying group. Omar's suggestion—that American leaders only back the Jewish state because Jews buy their political support—is, by any reasonable definition, anti-Semitic. The next month, however, Ben Rhodes, who served as Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser, went unnoticed as he used the same slur. "The Washington view of Israel-Palestine is still shaped by the donor class," Rhodes told the New York Times. "The donor class is profoundly to the right of where the activists are, and frankly, where the majority of the Jewish community is." Sure, Rhodes's wording is more eloquent than Omar's (although inaccurate about the Jewish community's positions), but his implication is the same: scheming, wealthy Jews are gaming the political system to help Israel and, naturally, to hurt the Palestinians. Rhodes, of course, has a history of undermining the Jewish state as a prominent member of the Obama administration.

It should not be surprising, then, to see Rhodes lie and mislead to demonize Israel. He did just that earlier this week, retweeting a story on Israeli crews demolishing Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem with the added message: "Imagine having your home destroyed just because of who you are, and that being the point." Naturally, Omar and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) both endorsed Rhodes's tweet. To say that Rhodes mischaracterized the situation would be a radical understatement. It is possible that Rhodes is remarkably ignorant about Israeli affairs and did not read the article, but he is an intelligent man who presumably follows international news closely. More likely he had at least a basic idea of the truth, which would mean he intentionally misled the public.

Here are the facts that Rhodes conveniently ignored:

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Aaron Kliegman is the news editor of the Washington Free Beacon. Prior to joining the Free Beacon, Aaron worked as a research associate at the Center for Security Policy, a national security think tank, and as the deputy field director on Micah Edmond's campaign for U.S. Congress.