Israel Now — A Few Questions

In the last year’s Arab-Israel crisis, most Of US on the democratic Left supported the Israeli cause. Our justification for this had little, if anything, to do with Zionist sentiment. The existence of a small democratic state (whose every action we did not necessarily approve) was clearly endangered. The Arab nations had announced their intent to “wipe out” Israel; aided by the Russians, they had mobilized substantial forces; in closing the Gulf of Aqaba, they had taken warlike actions. Under similar circumstances, we ought to defend the right of any threatened people to exist.

The six-day Blitz transformed the Near Eastern picture; most of all, it changed the relation between Arabs and Israelis within Israel it...