Noteworthy:
The US should think carefully before getting taking sides in Syria, Egypt and elsewhere in the region, writes Leslie H. Gelb in the Daily Beast.
Whatever the experts tell them, our leaders will have to come to terms with some hard truths. First, Americans have to understand that they should not enthrone democracy as an end in itself. Free votes can supplant villains with worse villains, corruption and brutality with tyranny and enslavement of women. Just as the ends do not justify the means, the means are not always superior to the ends. Second, diplomatic compromises are often unattainable between those who hate each other, and between those who know they must rule or die, and those who’d rather die than see the rulers continue to rule.
Israel’s an Election Issue … For Christians
Romney’s vow to do the opposite to Obama on Israel will resonate more with American evangelicals than American Jews, writes Jonathan S. Tobin in Commentary Magazine.
Romney needs a huge turnout of evangelicals—a group that often fails to maximize its numbers at the polls—this fall if he is to beat President Obama. As conservatives work to register and mobilize conservative Christians, expect to hear more about Israel from Romney. It may be that most Jews don’t care if Romney is more sympathetic to the Jewish state, but support for Israel is an issue that a great many Christians believe is a deal breaker.
Media Digest
- Times of Israel: Sephardi chief rabbi slams funding of non-Orthodox rabbis
- Haaretz: Israeli killed as IDF, terrorists exchange fire along Egypt border
- The Jerusalem Post: With new fence, Navy readying for sea-terror swell
- Ynet: Female officers warn of mass haredi draft
- New York Times: Crackdown on Migrants Tugs at Soul of Israelis
- Washington Post: Egypt’s military issues decree giving vast powers to armed forces, but few to president
- Wall Street Journal: Israeli Tax Preparers Snared
