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Moshe R. Manheim. Credit: Courtesy.

Moshe R. Manheim

Moshe Manheim is a retired clinical social worker and psychotherapist whose writing explores psychology, Jewish life, history and culture. He is the author of the recently released historical novel, Elsie’s Boys.

What sustains Iran’s struggle against Israel and the West?
Classic passive-aggressive: Iran can test its limits, using its new momentum to create new crises, then retreat just enough to extract more concessions while preserving the broader understanding.
A recurring theme is the danger Israel’s existence poses, often linked to questioning the legitimacy of a Jewish homeland. This message is hard to challenge.
Accusations once directed primarily at Israeli policy too frequently spill outward onto Jews more generally, collapsing distinctions between state, identity, politics, religion and ethnicity.
Creating a language of “parallel traumas” harms the historical record, and it ultimately flattens moral distinction.
What America designed in Philadelphia in 1787, Israel postponed in 1948.
Maybe it wasn’t all love, but there was a sense at one point in the Middle East that things were bending in a favorable direction.
Decisions affecting a critical American ally risk being filtered through internal partisan dynamics, rather than external strategic reality.
When the messenger is dismissed, the message is often discarded with it.