The Suffering of the Olam HaCharedim

Suffering Charedim (Mishpacha)

Just when I thought every argument about the Charedi draft exemption had been exhausted ad nauseam, along comes Mishpacha publisher Eli Paley with yet another defense of exempting all full-time yeshiva students from military service.

Since the October 7^th massacre, that debate has taken on an exponential urgency. Israel’s response required an unprecedented mobilization of reserve soldiers, many of whom have spent months in combat, risking death or serious injury while their families lived with constant fear. Even those who returned physically unharmed have often paid a tremendous price in lost careers, financial hardship, PTSD, and strained family relationships. Their sacrifice for the country is immeasurable.

None of this is new.

Before addressing Mr. Paley’s arguments, I want to correct a misnomer often used by Charedi leadership. Referring to themselves as the Olam HaTorah is offensive. Not because they are not part of the Torah world, but because the term implies they alone represent it. They do not. The Religious Zionist community is every bit as committed to Torah study lishmah while simultaneously serving in the defense of the Jewish people. A more accurate name for this group would be the Olam HaCharedim.

Ironically, Mr. Paley acknowledges the enormous sacrifice of the Religious Zionist community:

“Our hearts went out to a community that has lost so many sons, husbands, students, and friends — a community that has demonstrated extraordinary self-sacrifice on behalf of Klal Yisrael and paid an unimaginably heavy price.”

That is precisely why his conclusion is so baffling.

Despite recognizing this sacrifice, he doubles down on the claim that efforts to draft Charedim constitute a war against Torah world. Only now he accuses the Religious Zionists of being the most aggressively against it. In his view, the issue is no longer Israel’s desperate manpower shortage but an ideological assault on the Torah world.

As evidence, he points to Religious Zionist opposition to legislation that would have postponed the draft issue until after the next election while ending arrests of draft resisters. To him, that proves Religious Zionists are targeting Torah itself. As if there was no Torah being studied at all in their Yeshivos!

He then recounts a conversation with the Rosh Yeshivah of a leading Hesder Yeshiva. Mr. Paley complained that Religious Zionist leaders had not spoken forcefully enough against what Charedim perceive as persecution.

The Rosh Yeshiva thanked him for raising the point and acknowledged that perhaps more rabbanim should express that concern. Then he asked if he could share a personal story…

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The Making of a Kiddush HaShem

Image from Photography by Rick and Rich

I don’t often brag about my city. (Well... maybe I do. A little.) But I can’t help taking pride in how Chicago’s Orthodox Jewish community presents itself to its non-Jewish neighbors.

That is not to say there isn’t the occasional chilul Hashem here, just as there is in other large cities with sizable Orthodox Jewish populations. There most certainly is. And when I become aware of it, I call it out.

But in the aggregate, the Jews who make up Chicago’s entire Orthodox community make me proud. All of us—from Chasidim to the right-wing yeshiva world, to Centrists, to Modern Orthodox—deserve credit for making a Kiddush Hashem at the many public gatherings where non-Jews are present.

Last Monday night I attended a screening of Names, Not Numbers, an annual project in which my alma mater, Fasman Yeshiva High School, participates. Students interview and film Holocaust survivors, preserving their stories for future generations.

A photographer was hired by the school to photograph the speakers and attendees. His name is Rich. At 73, he is now semi-retired. Back when he was in his prime, he and his partner, Rick, were among the most sought-after photographers in Chicago. During my own years as a professional videographer, we frequently worked side by side. Rich and I became good friends. Rich is not Jewish.

I mention all this because of a brief conversation my wife, Annie, had with him that evening. She noticed the words “Baruch Hashem” printed in the upper-right corner of his business card, which she had asked him for in order to stay in touch. Curious, she asked him about it. He didn’t have time to answer while he was working the event, but he promised to send her an email explaining it.

Here is what he wrote:

Good morning Annie,

As to your question, I have a profound respect for your religion, and I often use those words in conversations when appropriate. Although, as I mentioned to Herschel, I am exploring all aspects of religion, both present and past, I feel a kinship with yours.

That is why whenever I am partaking in an event within the community, I wear a yarmulke as a sign of respect and a personal feeling of belonging, in a small way, to the community.

I do on occasion forget my prized yarmulke, and when I do, I am very much aware of feeling more like an outsider.

Of all the events I’ve done in my career, I’ve always felt more connected with community events, even though I am not a Jewish person. This feeling is why I have focused on doing community events over Christian ones in the twilight of my career.

Rich

This letter is a real testament to how a Jew - especially one who identifiably Orthodox, as indicated by wearing a yarmulke (kippah) - should conduct himself in public.

Even at events attended almost entirely by Orthodox Jews, such as weddings, non-Jews are almost always present. Photographers, waiters, hotel staff, musicians, and other vendors are watching us. So are many non-Orthodox Jews. Some may view us with a jaundiced eye, looking for confirmation that we are no better than anyone else. Or perhaps even worse. Others simply know very little about us and are forming their impressions based on what they see.

It is therefore all too easy to create a massive chilul Hashem through inappropriate behavior. Especially at weddings. Often this is fueled by excessive drinking. Sometimes it is the result of overexuberance – young people becoming so wrapped up in themselves that they ignore everyone around them under the mistaken assumption that they are merely being mesame’ach chasan v’kallah, performing the mitzvah of bringing joy to the bride and groom…

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A Holocaust Story

My parents becoming US citizens shortly after the Holocaust

The doorbell rang and Ivan - the righteous gentile who sheltered and fed Jews hidden in a bunker dug below his basement - answered it. 5 people were there claiming to be Aron’s family. They knew about the bunker and asked to be let in. My father, two of his sons, Jack and Barry, his brother Joseph and a young man by the name of Elie were standing there all smelling of excrement. They were let in and given pails of water to bathe in and given clean underwear. My father then sat on the bed sobbing and told them his harrowing story:

We had a difficult time in the forest. Getting food was a problem. ‘Eventually Mrs. Zuk, the forest ranger’s wife took pity on us. “It was an awkward situation. Her husband had no interest in helping us But she had a good heart. We paid her and she agreed to supply us with corn, barley, bread, and potatoes. Her husband didn’t want to get involved with us and even scolded her for getting us food. We would go into the house when he wasn’t around and pick up the food she had prepared for us.

We cooked at night and slept during the day. During the day, no one would venture outside. It was always dark in the bunker although during the day, some light seeped in through the twigs covering the bunker. Many of us developed diarrhea and used a big hole dug inside the bunker for a toilet. There was of course no privacy.

By the end of November the first snow fell and we had to be careful not to go outside and create footsteps in the snow. One of the people in that bunker had developed a severe case of diarrhea and was embarrassed to use that toilet so often. So he kept going outside even though Aron had tried to stop him. No one could hold him back.

Some farmers noticed the footprints. 3 days ago early in the morning Ukrainian and German police surrounded our bunker. They were shooting all over. And then it stopped. Nobody moved. One fellow stuck his head out from among the twigs and was shot in the head.

Aron realized that we were all doomed…

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Some Pre-Tisha B’Av Ramblings

Jews fighting Jews

It’s hard. Much harder than Yom Kippur. (At least for me.)

Tisha B’Av is meant to be hard. We are supposed to feel the pain of losing the most important structure in all of Jewish history - the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, God’s residence (so to speak) here on earth. The Sages therefore gave us a program to follow on the anniversary of the destruction of both Holy Temples—a day dedicated to reflecting upon all the tragedies that have befallen us throughout our long exile.

We are, in fact, still living in that exile. Despite our return to the Holy Land and the tremendous success and growth we have attained, our redemption will not occur until the Messianic era, when the Temple is rebuilt.

And yet, it’s difficult to mourn a loss that happened thousands of years ago to ancestors long since gone. Honestly, I have a hard time doing that because I never personally experienced the glory of the Temple. For me, it’s ancient history—something I had no part in.

I suspect that if most people were honest, they would say the same. Which is why the Sages wanted us to experience the pain, at least in some measure, by requiring us (among other things) to fast, sit on the floor, and refrain from any enjoyable activity on this day. Even Torah study is forbidden.

We force ourselves into a state of mourning in order to better appreciate the magnitude of what was lost when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed.

The “sins” of our ancestors are not our sins. I would argue that - with some notable exceptions - today’s observant Jewry is far more devout than the generation whose sins led to the destruction of the First Temple. That generation was guilty of the widespread commission of the three cardinal sins: idolatry, sexual immorality, and murder.

The Second Temple, however, was destroyed because of a chain of events that began when one prominent Jew publicly insulted and humiliated another Jew for no good reason. We refer to that as Sinas Chinam - baseless hatred.

I doubt that the vast majority of observant Jewry today is involved in any meaningful way in the three cardinal sins. But I do believe we are still guilty of publicly insulting and humiliating one another. Now more than ever.

And it’s happening at the highest levels…

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The Extreme Comments of a Charedi Gadol

Rav Dov Lando

I am beside myself with pain and anger at the following excerpt from Rationalist Judaism:

The State of Israel should never have come into existence. The Arabs would have happily allowed hundreds of thousands of Jews to come from Europe and live peacefully in Palestine. Zionists are responsible for all the terrible things that have happened. Religious Zionist soldiers die because of the corrupt teachings of their rabbis. Jews should only learn Torah as taught by charedim. Charedim should not participate in the war effort, even if they are not learning, and should not even perform acts of kindness for soldiers. They should not visit them in hospitals, attend their funerals, or raise money for their welfare. And anyone who wants charedim to be subject to the same rules as everyone else and share the burden of the war is evil.

These are the actual published words of Rav Dov Lando, a man considered by much of the Charedi world to be the Gadol HaDor. Published as part of its effort to demonstrate where the ‘Torah world’ stands with respect to the State of Israel, its military, and those who support it in any way.

Although these statements were not all uttered at the same time, they were each made by Rav Lando in one context or another.

Ahhhh... there’s that word: context.

This is where deniability comes in. Sometimes it is valid, and sometimes it is not. Any statement taken out of its original context can easily be misinterpreted, and often is. Unscrupulous people with partisan agendas frequently extract outrageous-sounding quotations that, when placed back into their original context, turn out not to be outrageous at all. And are often quite reasonable.

But sometimes, when you see a zebra, you shouldn’t assume it is merely a horse painted with white stripes. Sometimes quotations are so clear that no context in the world can make them sound any better.

I think it is safe to say that the quotations above fit that category.

How, for example, can anyone spin something positive out of a statement like:

“Religious Zionist soldiers die because of the corrupt teachings of their rabbis”?

Or…

“Charedim should not even do acts of kindness for soldiers—they should not visit them in hospitals, attend their funerals, or raise money for their welfare”?

Thing is, the devout Charedi politicians who follow their rabbinic leaders have not even attempted to deny that statements like these were made. They defend them

Case in point:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded Monday afternoon to remarks by Lithuanian haredi leader Rabbi Dov Lando against IDF soldiers in general, and Religious Zionist soldiers who wear knitted kippot in particular.

“I strongly reject the shocking statements made against IDF soldiers from the Religious Zionist community. IDF soldiers—religious, secular, and charedi—leave their homes, their jobs, and their families, and risk their lives to defend the State of Israel, its citizens, and the entire Jewish people.

“They deserve profound appreciation, gratitude, and full support from every segment of the public, and certainly also from the Torah world,” Netanyahu said.

That drew a harsh response from Charedi MK Moshe Gafni:

“The words of the Gedolei Yisrael are the Holy of Holies of the Jewish people, and we live by them. Those who do not live in the world of Torah and do not understand the depth of their words would do better not to rush to interpret them, and certainly not to attack them.”

‘Holy of Holies.’ ‘Words to live by.’ Regardless of what anyone else thinks of them. Regardless of whom they disparage - even if they are fellow religious Jews. It doesn’t matter. How dare anyone question, let alone criticize, the words of the Gedolim? That would border on blasphemy.

If this doesn’t illustrate the power of Charedi Daas Torah, nothing does. Any disagreement is viewed as playing with fire.

And yet there are many Charedim who, in fact, do not agree with Rav Lando. Some have even joined the IDF. Many - perhaps most - at least understand what the rest of the nation is going through.

How do they reconcile Rav Lando’s words with the explanation offered by MK Gafni, who was merely articulating the worldview of the Charedi community. A worldview that grants extraordinary deference to the Gedolei HaDor…

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The Charedi View of the IDF

IDF soldiers in the Chashmonaim brigade

I am not a Religious Zionist, nor am I Charedi. The truth is that I am hard to peg. Always have been. But I do have an identity that does not fit neatly into any one category.

Truth be told, however, I lean far more toward the Religious Zionist point of view than I do toward the Charedi one. Although I value much of the Charedi approach to Judaism, their leadership has lately become so intolerant of the Religious Zionist perspective that it has become almost impossible for me to respect those who increasingly reflect that intolerance.

Although I do not subscribe to the belief that the modern State of Israel is “the first flowering of our redemption,” I wholeheartedly support the State of Israel. I believe that every Jew has a responsibility to help defend the country in which they live and prosper, whether that prosperity is financial or spiritual. I consider Israel my ancestral homeland, and I am profoundly grateful to the founders of the Jewish state for building it into a model society that has produced great people and remarkable achievements, both religious and secular. As a Jew, I could not be prouder of that.

Not so the Charedi world.

That said, the Charedi world is far from monolithic in how it views the State of Israel and its obligations to it. One thing does seem clear, however: much of its religious leadership is.

I admire the views of some prominent Charedim, but I am literally appalled by the views expressed by many of their leaders. Never has this been more evident than in the divergent perspectives published in two separate articles.

In yet another admirable Mishpacha column, Jonathan Rosenblum rebukes those within his own Charedi community who refuse to recognize the legitimate concerns of the Religious Zionist and Dati Leumi (Modern Orthodox) communities regarding military service:

I think we can all agree that Israel needs an army. If Bnei Yisrael, upon entering Eretz Yisrael, were explicitly commanded with respect to warfare, certainly our lowly generation is no better situated to rely on Divine miracles alone to defeat our enemies.

Further, I would guess that almost all can agree that the campaigns waged by the IDF in Gaza and Lebanon since October 7 were required, and that more than 100,000 Jews could not be left indefinitely to choose between fleeing their homes or being subject to constant rocket fire and the threat of invasion.

If an army is required, then we can drop all slogans that imply that service in the IDF is ipso facto forbidden. The manner in which the IDF is organized, with respect to the integration of genders and the like, may make participation halachically prohibited, but that is a far cry from arguing that army service is inherently forbidden.

It also follows that all the citizens of Israel owe a debt of hakaras hatov to those serving in our defense and should say so openly and often.

Coming from a prominent Charedi columnist, these words are remarkable, especially in light of the strident opposition of Charedi leaders to drafting any Charedim. The fact that his 35-year-old married son, a father of three, enlisted in the Chashmonaim Brigade and is currently stationed in Lebanon gives Jonathan’s words even greater moral weight.

Then there are the published words of Rav Chaim Mordechai Ausband, a prominent Charedi Rosh Yeshiva…

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The Science of Chutzpah

Image for illustration purposes (Mishpacha)

Many years ago, a dear friend of mine, who happened to be the general studies principal of a Charedi yeshiva high school, confided in me about the shocking pattern of behavior he observed on the part of his students. These young men had all the requisite respect - even awe - that one would expect Bnei Torah to show their Limudei Kodesh (religious studies) teachers. But they had absolutely no respect whatsoever for their Limudei Chol (general studies) teachers, most of whom were not even Jewish. They would often ridicule them to their faces.

I am no longer shocked by such behavior on the part of Charedi students. It is, unfortunately, an all-too-typical consequence of the messaging young people receive from their religious teachers. Which is to view anything secular with complete contempt. The corollary is that they come to treat those who live in that culture with the same disdain.

Thus, ridiculing them to their faces becomes a natural outcome of this kind of messaging. I have heard recordings of lectures by Charedi religious studies teachers that so thoroughly vilify the secular world that it becomes de rigueur for students to treat anything - or anyone - connected with it accordingly.

When I’ve brought this up to some of my Charedi friends - I got pushback. They insist that this is not how most of their students behave. They argue that the Yeshiva where my friend served as general studies principal was the exception that proves the rule.

Well, it appears that this kind of behavior is not an exception at all. It is, indeed, a function of the kind of messages students receive from their religious teachers. In a rare moment of candor, this was acknowledged by Rabbi Avrohom Neuberger, a popular Charedi Mechanech (educator) in Mishpacha Magazine. It was in response to a letter by a Charedi parent expressing the following concern:

Our son Shloimy is in sixth grade. He’s a good kid, really. He generally behaves well, and his academic performance is on par. But even at his age, we’ve begun to notice traces of chutzpah. Interestingly, it’s not directed at us—it’s reflected sporadically in the most unexpected situations.

For example, on Chol Hamoed we went to the zoo. There was a performance in which one of the zookeepers entered the lion’s den. Before he walked in, he said, “Watch out, I may not come out alive!”

And Shloimy shouted out, “If you don’t, can I have your watch?”

My wife and I were horrified.

The parent goes on to contrast his son’s behavior with that of students at a Modern Orthodox school, whose conduct in situations like this was respectful. He wondered whether he should transfer his son to that school.

Rabbi Neuberger advises strongly against doing so. For good reason, in my view. But that is beyond the scope of this post. What is definitely within its scope is his explanation for this phenomenon, and, amazingly, his concession that it is indeed a function of the kind of education Charedi students receive. His explanation closely mirrors my own…

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The Vice-President and Israel

JD Vance and Joe Rogan

I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. I really did.

I admired his remarkable story of rising from a very difficult childhood—a broken home, a drug-addicted mother, and life in the hills of Appalachia -to eventually graduate from Yale Law School, marry a lovely young woman of Indian descent, author the bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy (which was later made into a successful film), serve in the military, get elected U.S. senator from Ohio, and ultimately be chosen by Donald Trump as his running mate. He is now a heartbeat away from becoming the leader of the free world.

JD Vance has had quite an amazing journey from where he came to where he is today.

I assumed that his views with respect to Israel were largely the same as those of the man who chose him as his running mate. During the campaign, Vance was challenged in an interview by a member of the mainstream media about why he supported foreign aid to Israel despite his generally negative view of foreign aid.

I recall being satisfied with his answer at the time. He responded that he didn’t understand why the journalist asking the question failed to see that Israel was an obvious exception to that policy.

However, it has been all downhill since then.

Ever since taking office, whenever Israel has come up during interviews with journalists or podcasters, Vance’s responses have been troubling. In nearly every case, he has included some criticism of Israel while phrasing it in a way that gives him plausible deniability against accusations of being anti-Israel.

I particularly recall one interview in which, responding to a question about Israel’s military strategy, Vance said:

“What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of 9 million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”

I think he was referring to extremist right-wing Israeli cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. But the words speak for themselves. They suggest that accusations portraying Israel’s military campaign as genocide are not entirely without merit.

Now, Vance’s latest interview with conservative podcaster Joe Rogan leaves little doubt in my mind about where he really stands.

As reported by the Times of Israel:

“US Vice President JD Vance fumes at a reported Israeli government-funded influence campaign aimed at criticizing the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate an end to the Iran war.

‘You have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiations and try to derail the deal,’ Vance says during an interview with conservative podcaster Joe Rogan.

‘There was this Time article that came out yesterday... It lists a bunch of people who have been paid by a former Trump campaign person who was himself paid by certain elements within the Israeli government, and those people are attacking me viciously for trying to accomplish the negotiation objective that the president set for the country,’ Vance says.”

For someone who could very well become the next president of the United States to suggest a conspiracy involving unnamed “certain elements” within the Israeli government is shocking! Referring to them only as “certain elements” gives him deniability against charges of being anti-Israel.

Well, I’m not buying it...

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Segregation Forever!

Street scene in Bnei Brak (TOI)

I love Bnei Brak. It was my “home away from home” during the 1970s and 1980s, when my parents lived there. They had made aliyah to a city that reminded them very strongly of the lives they had lived in pre-Holocaust Europe. They had grown up in exclusively religious kehillos—large sections of cities that were almost entirely Jewish. Back then, if you were Jewish, you were more than likely religious (by Orthodox standards).

After the Holocaust, my parents immigrated to the United States and lived in a largely mixed environment consisting of secularized Jews and non-Jews. My father believed that the world in which he had been raised had been destroyed forever, never to be rebuilt. Upon his first visit to Israel, he was surprised and amazed to discover that this world still existed in a city called Bnei Brak. Shortly after that visit, he bought a condominium, and a few years later, in 1974, he made aliyah.

My frequent visits to my parents gave me the feeling that their home was my home. I loved the neighborhood and the feeling of being part of a world that was not only entirely Jewish, but entirely religious.

The entire city shut down for Shabbos. The main thoroughfare, Rabbi Akiva Street, became one giant sidewalk. No vehicles of any kind—other than emergency vehicles—were seen there. On Friday nights after the Shabbos meal, it was common for families to take a leisurely walk down Rabbi Akiva.

I had never seen anything like it. There was a sea of people walking on both sides of the street and right down the middle. It was an amazing and exhilarating sight for someone like me, who was accustomed to seeing cars driving on Shabbos down Devon Avenue, one of Chicago’s main thoroughfares running through my West Rogers Park neighborhood, home to an enormous Orthodox Jewish population.

But that was then.

Today, I’m not sure such a scene still exists. And if it does, it may eventually be legislated out of existence by the city’s leaders. As reported by the Times of Israel:

The Bnei Brak municipality is working to establish gender-segregated sidewalks inside the largely ultra-Orthodox city.

In accordance with a decision by the city’s rabbis, Bnei Brak plans to segregate the bustling Shlomo Hamelech and Ezra streets with barriers and signage to prevent men and women from crossing each other’s paths, Channel 13 reported.

The plan has been in development for several years and is likely to be expanded to other busy streets in the city, municipal officials told the channel.

An official message by the city instructed residents of all ages to abide by the new guidelines, the report said.

The municipality told Channel 13 that the rabbis’ instructions are “very clear and speak for themselves. The city’s public, which is committed to obeying the great Torah leaders and heeding their words, will comply with their request.”

I wish I could say I was surprised by this development. But as noted in the article, there are already other cities where similar policies have been implemented. It was only a matter of time before a city like Bnei Brak followed suit.

I understand the concern about violations of tznius. But legislating policies of extreme segregation of the sexes out of fear of incidental contact undermines normal civility between men and women in public. By further isolating the sexes from one another, the city’s leaders are continuing the “Frumkeit chase” that has become increasingly common in recent decades.

This sends the wrong message to young people…

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The Ro Khanna Incident

Ro Khanna’s car stopped near the West Bank village of Khirbet Zanuta

As lefties in Congress go, Ro Khanna is a moderate. By that I mean he does believe that Israel has the right - not only to exist but to defend itself against terrorist organizations like Hamas. I therefore applaud his willingness to resist the growing trend among progressive Democrats who increasingly embrace the view that Israel never had a right to exist in the first p;ace, that it is a colonial enterprise created to dispossess the indigenous population and subjugate it through a brutal occupation.

But my appreciation ends there.

His professed support for Israel’s right to defend itself amounts to little more than rhetoric, since he has repeatedly characterized Israel’s actual efforts to defend itself after the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7 - as genocide. And while he may not explicitly describe Israel as a colonial entity, he nevertheless portrays it as a brutal occupier of Palestinians on the West Bank, where, according to him, settlers routinely terrorize Palestinians while the Netanyahu government either looks the other way or tacitly encourages it.

And he is far from alone in making these accusations.

Last Sunday, Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan interviewed Israel’s Kipa wearing ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yechiel Leiter. She referred to an incident Congressman Khanna said happened to him during his recent visit to the West Bank:

“There was... an incident with Ro Khanna, the congressman from California, who said the vehicles he was in were stopped by Israeli settlers, and then when the IDF showed up, they were on the side of the settlers, not him.”

There are, unfortunately, a small number of extremist settlers who have engaged in exactly the kind of conduct of which they are accused. So Khanna’s account is not beyond the realm of possibility. Whenever such incidents occur, they lend credence to the nefarious accustions of Israel’s harshest critics in media. Outlets like the BBC and CNN. Those organizations eagerly seize upon these incidents because they reinforce the narrative they consistently promote.

But it is far too easy to blame a sitting prime minister who supports the peaceful settlement movement for every criminal act committed by a tiny minority of vigilantes. I am convinced that Prime Minister Netanyahu would not approve of what allegedly happened to Congressman Khanna if it occurred as described. That some members of his cabinet have expressed sympathy for extremist settlers is a separate issue. One that deserves serious discussion, but is beyond the scope of this post.

The real question is whether the incident happened as Khanna described it and what the facts really are.

The media, however, largely accepted Khanna’s version without question, consistent with its eagerness to portray Israel in the worst possible light.

So what is Israel’s response…

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