Vance stressed Israel’s strategic value to America, as well as the fact that it is a genuine ally, and not just a client state
Nor was my enthusiasm for Vance increased by Tucker Carlson’s endorsement of him. Quite the opposite. Carlson’s repeated mutterings about dark forces targeting American Christians — and not religion in general — makes me nervous. And Carlson’s recent criticism of Ben Shapiro for being interested only in Israel and not the problems of his own country, and his interview with a pro-Hamas Anglican clergyman from Bethlehem, to alert his listeners to the situation of Christians in Israel, fully confirmed suspicions of his anti-Semitic leanings.
It did not occur to Carlson to mention that Israel is the only country in the Middle East whose Christian population is growing, or that Christians have almost disappeared from Bethlehem, after being a majority when the Palestinian Authority took over governing the city.
(I admit, however, that Vance looked perfectly comfortable in a viral video with chassidic singer Shulem Lemmer and a large group of chassidim at a fundraiser in February.)
Then there was Vance’s remark about Ukraine, “I don’t really care what happens in Ukraine, one way or the other.” Too flippant by far. Decent people everywhere should care about what happens and should be appalled both by Russia’s seizure of lands no longer theirs and by their deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilians. Moreover, the remark betokened isolationist leanings that usually go together with a similar indifference to Israel and criticism of the United States for spending too much on Israel.
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