Julian Levi, in his letter “Israel conflict has long history” (Our Readers’ Views, June 12), is a bit cavalier with Israel’s history. He conflates the partitioning of Palestine on Nov. 9, 1947, and the Arab-Israeli War starting on May 15, 1948. While these events were only seven months apart, it was seven months of the newborn Israelis driving the Palestinians from their homes and from their lands.
While he is correct in saying that the U.S. did not support Israel in that war, the U.S. has done so at other times. For example, airlifting tanks to Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and providing the Air Defense System that brought down 90 percent of the Hamas-fired missiles in the recent war. The Israelis were flying U.S.-provided aircraft to pulverize Gaza. The U.S. has also used its veto power to block any U.N. resolutions that are critical of Israel. And we wonder if our Middle East problems will ever cease.
It is time for the U.S. to get its thumb off the scale. Work with the U.N. to declare Palestine a sovereign nation and a U.S. ally, and provide them with the means to get their country up and running.
