To the editor:
I find it curious that M.J. Rosenberg attributes the perverse hostility to Israel among self-styled "progressives" to Israel's current government, claiming hostility towards Israel barely existed when Yitzhak Rabin was "sincerely pursuing peace with the Palestinians."
Rabin was very clear about his unalterable opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state, while Israel's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, supports such a state while recognizing the obvious, that given the current state of Palestinian Arab society and its leadership, there won't be one until there's a fundamental change.
Benjamin Netanyahu today is reviled for being hardline, while Yitzhak Rabin is applauded for seeking peace, but by any objective standard the Netanyahu of today is more of a dove than Rabin was during his term as prime minister.
Of course, criticism of Israel or its leaders is rarely based on any rational analysis.
By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I have never voted for Netanyahu and do not intend to in the upcoming election, but had I been eligible I would have voted for Rabin in the 1992 election.
Sincerely,
Alan Stein