To the editor:
The New York Times provided an almost certainly unintended lesson about the vigor of Israeli exemplary democracy and morality by publishing the scurrilous op-ed, "Israel’s Army Goes to War With Its Politicians," by Ronen Bergman.
Bergman notes that in most countries the government restrains the army "from violating human rights or pursuing dangerous, aggressive policies." In his bitter attack on the Israeli governmental leadership, Bergman implicitly acknowledges the Israeli army respects human rights and acts properly as its name implies, the Israel Defense Force, rather than as a tool for aggression.
Bergman neglected to note that in most countries, including America, the government restrains army officials from publicly criticizing the political leadership or the citizenry. That's clearly not the case in Israel.
It would be hard to imagine a mainstream newspaper, such as The New York Times, in the United States publishing an op-ed expressing such raw, personal hostility to President Obama as Bergman's expresses towards Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, yet such articles are commonplace in the freewheeling Israeli media.
America and Israel are close friends, as well as allies, because of our shared values, but in some ways, as Bergman's op-ed demonstrates, Israel is even more democratic than America.
Sincerely,
Alan Stein