First of all I would like to apologize to all my non-Jewish friends. You have been my friends for many more years than most of my Jewish friends. And frankly, you have been remarkably supportive. First, you tried your best to understand why on earth we were moving to Israel and second, you stayed in touch with me all the years that I have lived here. You have been much more concerned every time a bomb exploded somewhere in Israel and you have never hesitated to comment on "the situation" here.
However, all that said, I must inform you all that I now have a new non-Jewish best friend: Rupert Murdoch.
No, I have never met him and I don't really expect to (unless after reading this he feels compelled to invite me to spend a week on his yacht). Of course I am completely aware that I have let him displace all of you because he owns a major media empire and he is not afraid to use it to do his bidding. If any of you ends up owning a comparable media empire, then I will be happy to reconsidering your position on my friends' list.
In the meantime I have to applaud Rupert (I'm his friend so I can call him that) for a speech that he made at a recent American Jewish Committee event where he was being honoured with its National Human Relations Award. You can read the speech on JPost http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1237392665709&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The truth is it is precisely because he isn't Jewish that he can say the things he said. If a Jew anywhere said those things, he or she would immediately be dismissed as well, a Jew and heaven forbid, a Zionist. But if you read the actual speech I don't see how anyone could possibly come away thinking anything other than how sensible his words were. The challenges facing Israel are precisely what he says they are. And for all its faults and deficiencies, Israel is forever caught in an irreconcilable existential quandary.
I have said it before and I will say it again: Being a Jew and a Zionist requires one to have very broad shoulders. But with friends like Rupert Murdoch, maybe someone who isn't naturally predisposed to supporting Israel will take another look and consider Murdoch's words. The great thing about the words being Murdoch's is that he can publish them all over his empire so sooner or later someone is going to actually read them.
As for me, I am going to add Rupert Murdoch to my Rosh HaShanah email list -- and while I'm at it, maybe my Christmas list as well.
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