Rahm Emmanuel Bashes Israel; The Sin of Sinas Chinum: Interview With JNS Senior Editor in Chief, Jonathan Tobin.

LONG ISLAND (VINnews)-JNS Senior Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Tobin told podcast host Alan Skorski that the truth remains the strongest weapon for supporters of Israel as Democratic leaders and some Jewish officials intensify criticism of the Jewish state.

The interview focused on what Skorski described as a decades-long Democratic campaign against Israel, highlighted by former Obama adviser and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent trip to the country. During the visit, Emanuel told Israeli audiences that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had isolated Israel and that the longstanding U.S.-Israel relationship had essentially run its course.

Skorski opened the discussion by reviewing earlier Democratic administrations. He recalled how President Bill Clinton pressed Israeli leaders to stay in the Oslo Accords despite Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s repeated violations and calls for violence that contributed to the first and second intifadas. Under President Barack Obama, Skorski said, the White House deliberately created “daylight” between the United States and Israel. Obama likened Palestinian suffering to the Holocaust, the group J Street rose to prominence, and delegates at the 2012 Democratic National Convention booed recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Skorski asked Tobin about the responsibility to challenge Jewish officials such as Emanuel and groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and Neturei Karta. He connected the issue to sinat chinam—baseless hatred among Jews—that Jewish tradition links to the destruction of the Second Temple. Tobin’s Tisha B’Av column, “Denial Inside the Modern Siege Lines,” argued that those who demonize Israel, rather than those who defend it, must internalize the holiday’s lessons. Tobin said those who confront such critics hold the moral high ground.

The conversation also addressed remarks by Caroline Glick at a recent JNS conference in Jerusalem, where she told the audience that “we still have the truth on our side.” When Skorski asked what that truth achieves, Tobin replied that it provides the moral authority to fight back and to mobilize Israel’s supporters around the world. He added that debate is pointless with those who traffic in blood libels, because their aim is Israel’s destruction rather than honest discussion.

Tobin warned of a further danger from a new generation of “activist journalism” whose mission, he said, is to reshape both the United States and Israel according to its own ideological goals.

The interview reinforced Tobin’s position that publicly challenging Jewish voices aligned against Israel is both legitimate and essential to defending the Jewish state’s security and legitimacy.