Stephen Flatow responds to Michael Steinhardt on Israel’s position

To the Editors:

While I agree with Michael Steinhardt (Spring 2023) that non-Orthodox Diaspora Jewry needs help, I must disagree with two of his claims regarding Israel.

Mr. Steinhardt says that “Israel is no longer poor,” pointing to the fact that “In per capita GDP, its economy today compares with those of the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.” But GDP tells only part of the story. The tragic reality is that 2.6 million Israelis—27.8 percent of the population—currently live below the poverty line, according to Israel’s largest anti-poverty organization, Latet. In addition, more than 21 percent of Israelis live in nutritional insecurity, and 75 percent of Israelis of pension age live in de facto poverty.

Steinhardt continues: “Israel is not weak, either. It has by far the most sophisticated military in the region,” and it has peace treaties with two neighboring countries, Egypt and Jordan. He neglected to mention that it also has a peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority, called the Oslo Accords, but that agreement has proven to be worthless, because the PA refuses to fulfill any of its obligations (such as arresting terrorists or halting anti-Jewish incitement)—a fact that points to the fragility of peace treaties made with dictators.

The fact is that Israel today is surrounded by hostile forces. The de-facto Hamas state in Gaza frequently fires missiles into Israeli kindergartens. The PA regime in the Palestinian-inhabited parts of Judea-Samaria shelters and pays terrorists, and raises its children to hate Jews and glorify violence. Syria has developed chemical weapons and would be aiming them at Israel if not for its own civil war. And southern Lebanon is occupied by a Hezbollah terrorist army that has more than 150,000 rockets, according to the Times of Israel.