JEWISH WORLD

20 JEWISH WORLD • JUNE 14-20, 2024 Tom Friedman, 7M /ater Israel’s eternal gadfly at the NY Times By RAFAELMEDOFF I n the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas invasion of Israel, Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times has written numerous columns attacking Israeli Prime Minister of Benjamin Netanyahu. But before anybody suspects Friedman of being obsessed with Netanyahu, let’s be clear: Friedman has publicly assailed seven other Is- raeli prime ministers, as well. The first was Golda Meir. In his book From Beirut to Jerusa- lem, Friedman lambasted Prime Minister Meir for insisting on the inclusion of Holocaust studies in the curricula of Israeli high schools and army officers’ courses. She “en- couraged” what Friedman called “the ‘Holocausting’ of the Israeli psyche,” turning Israel into “Yad Vashem with an air force” (pp.280- 281). Meir’s successor, Yitzhak Rabin, was Friedman’s next target. As one of the leaders of the “Middle East Peace Group” at Brandeis Universi- ty in 1974, Friedman criticized op- ponents of Yasir Arafat’s infamous speech at the United Nations and demanded that the Rabin govern- ment negotiate with the PLO leader. Some of Friedman’s criticism of Israeli prime ministers has bordered on the vulgar. His book From Beirut to Jerusalem included this tasteless psychosexual analysis of Men- achem Begin: “[He] loved the idea of Jewish power, Jewish tanks, Jew- ish pride. They were his pornogra- phy. He needed a war to satisfy his deep longings for dignity. And to cure all his traumas about Jewish impotence.” (p.144) From 1984 to 1990, Israel was ruled by a national unity govern- ment with Shimon Peres of Labor and Yitzhak Shamir of Likud each serving as prime minister for vary- ing periods of time. Friedman con- tinued blasting away: Israel’s lead- erswereafflictedby“megalamonia”; “the Israelis are getting a bad press because they deserve it”; Israel was “demonizing” the PalestinianArabs; Israel’s reluctance to release 700 im- prisoned Arab terrorists “certainly contributed” to the hijacking of a TWA airliner; the Labor-Likud gov- ernment “used” and “exploited” Arab terrorists’ murder of U.S. 7,9:7,CTI=, In o]er 0 years of reporting, Friedman has made it clear that ultimately, his problem is not with Israeli leaders but with Israel. Tom Friedman (center) has directed his vile bile at Israeli PMs (clockwise from top left) Golda Meir, Itzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Olmert, Ariel Sharon and Itzhak Shamir. Serving All 5 Boroughs of NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and Rockland. Hey, we don’t have this BIG RED boxing glove in our logo for nothing. KNOCKOUT ALL YOUR PEST PROBLEMS Service calls in 24 hours or less www.knockoutpest.com 1.800.244.7378 KNOCKOUT PEST CONTROL is New York’s premium pest control company that rids homes and businesses from pests using the latest in GREEN environmentally friendly technology. Ants, Bed Bugs , Bees , Centipedes, Crickets, Fleas, Flies , Hornets, Millipedes, Powder Post Beetles, Silverfish , Stink Bugs, Termites , Wasps, Yellow Jackets , Rodents, and more... SENTRICON NY’S BEST TERMITE CONTROL SYSTEM KILL BED BUGS WITH FREEZING TECHNOLOGY KNOCKOUT PEST CONTROL’S Covers all areas inside a home and attached to house, eg: deck, garage, etc. for a FULL 12 MONTHS Call now to SAVE 25% COUPON Limited time offer. Some restrictions apply. This coupon MUST be presented at the time of initial service contact to qualify for THIS offer. Ask about our commercial property KO-12 plans. 24/7 - Knockout Pest Control 1.800.244.7378 KO-12 PROGRAM KOPC_Ad_July2011.indd 1 7/21/11 11:30:44 AM