‘The Moral Simplicity of Chris Van Hollen’ (Editorial, May 29)
It is good to see someone opining on the truth about Sen. Van Hollen. Mr. Van Hollen is blatantly anti-Israel and antisemitic. Since Oct. 7, 2023, he has been aggressively and publicly anti-Israel and pro-Hamas, giving the benefit to Hamas in almost all of his public utterances regarding Israel’s defensive response to the horrific attacks. While the loss of innocent life in Gaza is tragic, this unfortunately is the result of the radical Islamists (Hamas) starting this war.
Mr. Van Hollen has no moral framework and will say and do anything to get the support of the ultra-progressive wing of the Democratic Party, as well as the funding that is provided through such support. He has no moral compass. Mr. Van Hollen obviously has little to no understanding of the history of the nation of Israel and the fact that the Palestinians have walked away from the possibility of having their own state on several occasions.
It is time for Maryland’s Jewish community to wake up and stop supporting politicians on election day who regularly take positions that are against Israel and against our interest as a community. I strongly urge the Maryland Jewish community to oppose Chris Van Hollen when he is up for re-election in 2028.
Mark Yoffee, Pikesville
Your recent editorial criticizing Chris Van Hollen contained several errors.
You accused him of writing “a one-sided indictment.” In fact, his essay recognized the legitimacy of Zionism and called for a two-state solution. He emphasized “I support Israel’s need for security” and affirmed “Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks.”
He also called out the “dangerous and reprehensible rise in antisemitism.” He called on Democrats to be “both ‘pro-Israeli’ and ‘pro-Palestinian’” while “put[ting] forward a plan that moves … toward a durable peace.”
Like Benjamin Netanyahu, you pin the blame for the barbaric Hamas massacre on Oct. 7 on Ariel Sharon’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza. In fact, it was Netanyahu’s strategy of preventing Palestinian statehood by weakening Palestinian moderates and strengthening the extremists of Hamas that blew up in all our faces on that awful day.
You describe Van Hollen’s frank language as “accusatory political labels designed to place Israel outside the boundaries of legitimate democratic conduct.” But it is in fact the right-wing policies of Netanyahu’s governments since 2009 that have moved Israel toward international pariah status and lost the support of the majority of diaspora Jews.
Remember: The 39th World Zionist Congress passed a record seven resolutions against the policies of Israel’s current government.
I agree with Chris Van Hollen because he agrees with former Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak and dozens of former generals and other Israeli security chiefs who see what the Baltimore Jewish Times editorial board seems blind to — that the rise of extremism in Israel today constitutes an internal existential threat at least as serious as the external threats from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas — and as serious a threat as the messianic zealotry that brought an end to Jewish sovereignty in our ancient homeland nearly 2,000 years ago.
Matthew Weinstein, Baltimore
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