America and Israel: Rupert Murdoch Gets It

Media titan Rupert Murdoch was awarded the National Human Relations Award by the American Jewish Committee on March 4th. In his acceptance speech he laid out a cogent and forceful case for a continuing special relationship between the U.S. and Israel. This quote struck me as the heart and soul of his remarks:

IN THE WEST, we are used to thinking that Israel cannot survive without the help of Europe and the United States...[m]aybe we should start
wondering whether we in Europe and the United States can survive if we allow the terrorists to succeed in Israel.

Murdoch nails the dilemma Israel finds itself in vis-a-vis Hamas: while its conventional military forces can flatten Gaza, Israel is constrained by the fact that it is accountable to its citizens for every life lost, including Palestinian lives. By contrast Hamas is accountable to no one, and the death of "innocent" Palestinians by Israeli fire is nothing more than grist for its propaganda mill.

Murdoch notes that Israel is further handicapped by the global media, which is decidedly tilted towards the terrorist entity. The media willingly serves as agents for Hamas in spreading lies about Israel in the form of edited (or in some cases fabricated) images and soundbites. The narrative is always the same--Israel the brutal occupier and oppressor rains death and destruction on the victims of Gaza.

When Hamas lobs missiles at Israeli towns the media shrugs. Yet Israel's measured response is cause for a war crimes tribunal.

Good for Mr. Murdoch. Kudos to the American Jewish Committee for recognizing him.

Read the speech here.