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Letters to the editor: All about Bibi

Rob Eshman is a writer without any credibility (“Bibi, You’re No Moses,” March 6). It’s Jews like him who make our enemies stronger.
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March 11, 2015

So, About That Speech …

Rob Eshman is a writer without any credibility (“Bibi, You’re No Moses,” March 6). It’s Jews like him who make our enemies stronger. He should be fired and banished.

Barry Schreiber, Los Angeles  

Eshman provided nothing to suggest that: (a) Iran is interested in abandoning its globally terrifying nuclear ambitions; (b) Iran has shown any good-faith effort during negotiations, as opposed to simply stalling; and (c) the Obama administration’s secret deal process is superior to Bibi’s validly articulated concerns, even assuming sanctions are wholly ineffective. What Bibi articulated needed to be said, not censured.

Mark Herskovitz, Los Angeles

Eshman’s editorial indicting Netanyahu is transparent in its Democratic Party talking points. He shows his colors when suggesting Iran has and will submit to free inspection … blatantly not true. It’s been stalling for years, and keeps developing more and more centrifuges. Their intent is obvious as well as their stated targets: Israel and America.

Jack Potok via email

Congratulations to Eshman on his March 6 op-ed. Exceptionally written, practical and sensible. And what’s more, apolitical.

Well done, sir.

Jonathan Phillips, Los Angeles

Eshman’s analysis of Bibi’s address to Congress mirrors my own. Despite a few pro forma words about Obama, Netanyahu’s disrespect is apparent. The gushing welcomes and standing ovations of the same members of Congress who sat on their hands while our president was advancing ideas for reviving the disadvantaged middle class was repulsive. The worst affront for me was Bibi’s declaration that he speaks for all Jews. Hold on, Bibi — you do not now, have not in the past and will not in the future ever speak for me. I hold you responsible for damage to my Jewish homeland that may be irrevocable. Shame on you.

Barbara H. Bergen, Los Angeles

Eshman is, of course, free to express his view. He does not live in Iran. He also does not live in Israel. I believe he lives in Los Angeles, which is approximately 7,500 miles from Tehran. I find it amazing and offensive that those who do not live in Israel, whose children do not serve in the Israel Defense Forces, who are far from the Hezbollah rockets and the potential Iranian missiles, feel so comfortable in telling Israelis what their best interests are for their survival. 

So, if he is so keen on the foreign policy of Israel and how it should be conducted, he should make aliyah

Lewis Klar, Professor emeritus, University of Alberta


Bibi Is Bad for Business

David Suissa says that Middle East negotiation is like “buying a rug in a Persian bazaar” (“Bibi to Congress: Don’t Be Suckers,” March 6). If the seller is too eager to conclude the sale, the price will just go up. Bibi says that Barack Obama and John Kerry should stop acting like “suckers.”

Suissa calls this conclusion “simple, timeless wisdom.” I think it is simple-minded negativity.

After 15 years of Bibi’s leadership, Israel has utterly failed to achieve the two-state solution he officially endorsed. Israel still has not recognized [its] border with the Palestinians He is always reluctant to show eagerness for a negotiated settlement of differences. He has led Israel into three ever more destructive wars against Palestinians.

In the Mideast bazaar, Bibi is a failure. He drove away all his customers. Israel has no peace, no treaty, no borders. Bibi has only succeeded in driving a wedge between Israel and its sole partner, the USA.

Rabbi Jerrold Goldstein, Sherman Oaks


Last Chance or Final Farewell?

Amos Oz, the eternal dreamer, posits that the emergence of a Palestinian state neighboring Israel is the last chance for Israel (“Last Chance for a Jewish State,” March 6). This envisioned state, in league with Israel’s fiercest enemies — Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran — who pledge to exterminate the Jewish people, is supposed to safeguard their existence.

One needs to ask Oz: How on Earth would a tiny sliver of a country surrounded by enemies on all sides be safer with half a sliver of a country? Has he so soon forgotten the lesson of returning Gaza to the Palestinians?

C. P. Lefkowitz, Rancho Palos Verdes


Editor’s note: In last week’s Jewish Journal (March 6, 2015), we printed a letter against the activist David Horowitz that contradicted our general policy against ad hominem attacks in the letters section, except when against the editor. We deeply regret the error.

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