The journalist and critic Jay Nordlinger seeks to answer this question along with another he is asked frequently: “Why do you write so much about Israel?”
I think Israel is a great and admirable state. I think Zionism is a great and admirable movement. The revival of Hebrew alone is one of the more astonishing developments of modern times. . . .
[Yet] Israel is the most condemned nation of all 200 in the world, virtually a pariah state. Why? Isn’t this a little odd? . . . Israel, encircled by enemies and threatened with destruction, should have more support than any other nation. Instead, it has the least. . . . If the world would leave Israel alone—simply let it be, let it live—I would probably think about Israel as much as I do, say, Uruguay. I don’t mean to offend Uruguay. But Uruguay almost never crosses my mind.
There is a great civilizational divide in the world, with the likes of Islamic State and the [Iranian] mullahs on one side, and their prey on the other. Israel’s foes are our foes, or certainly my foes. If the world lets Israel go down, then the world is an ass, and a betrayer. Moreover, the prospects of civilization itself are in doubt.
Read more on National Review: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425386/why-israel-jay-nordlinger