A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Munich, the Holocaust and Zionism

Charles Krauthammer strongly criticizes Munich in the Washington Post.

One of Krauthammer's criticisms is that "Spielberg makes the Holocaust the engine of Zionism and its justification."

That is an interesting issue. Many supporters of Israel also invoke the Holocaust as evidence of the need for a Jewish state and the cause of international support for one, and in Schindler's List, which nobody would consider anti-Israel, Spielberg appeared to make a similar point at the end.

In reality, the Holocaust decimated the Jewish people to such an extent that it almost cost us the formation of Israel, and when Israel was formed, it existed in tiny borders. Now Israel has serious demographic problems - again because of the Holocaust, since with so few Jews there are so few candidates for aliyah - and as a result is in the process of shrinking back toward its original tiny borders.

The bottom line is that the Holocaust, far from being the engine of Zionism, nearly derailed the Zionist movement completely, and did leave it seriously damaged. The many who believe otherwise include both friends and enemies of Israel, but their perception is offbase.
posted on 1/14/2006