Espionage and its Apologists
Writing in San Francisco’s J. newspaper, Douglas Bloomfield, former chief legislative lobbyist for AIPAC, analyzes the circumstances surrounding the arrest of retired Army engineer Ben-Ami Kadish, who is accused of spying on the United States for Israel. Bloomfield zooms out and looks at the larger context, including the debate over long-imprisoned spy Jonathan Pollard — and he doesn’t have much patience for those he regards as apologists for Israeli espionage in America.
Bloomfield writes:
The greatest damage of the Kadish case may come from a tiny minority in the Jewish community that seems to justify spying by claiming Washington has not supported Israel with intelligence about its enemies and with political backing.
And they make things worse when they belittle the latest case by ridiculing it as government harassment of a zayde. Such conduct can be as destructive as the crime itself; it says that spying for Israel is not only acceptable but honorable and even necessary — and it reinforces accusations that Jews put loyalty to Israel ahead of loyalty to America.
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