Folks on the Left have been throwing around the term “Likudnik” to refer to any non-left-wing Jew who differs with them on foreign policy [UPDATE: Case in point], even when the relevant issue has nothing directly to do with Israel, Iraq being exhibit A (to the extent the insinuation is that these Jews supported the Iraq war to promote right-wing Israeli policies, I will reiterate the point that the Israeli military, diplomatic, and political establishment all urged the Bush Administration to focus its attention on Iran, not Iraq; besides, to the extent the right-wing Likud was pleased with the Iraq invasion, the left-wing Labor Party and the moderate Shinnui were equally pleased–Saddam Hussein didn’t exactly have a big fan club in Israel). [UPDATE: The same Jewish–and non-Jewish–neoconservatives who supported war in Iraq strongly supported military action in Bosnia, but I have yet to hear about the “Likudniks” pushing the Clinton Administration into that war.]
Not surprisingly, the phrase “Likudnik” is gradually becoming a general anti-Semitic term for Jews whose opinions one doesn’t like. Case in point, an email from one Matthew Hess sent to Eugene and me, thoughtfully, albeit tendentiously, critiquing a Cathy Young column I cited earlier this week, arguing that Bush voters are not “dumb.” UPDATE: It turns out that the “thoughtful critique” noted above comes from the blog “Lean Left,” not from the email author. The author cut and pasted the “Lean Left” critique without identifying it.
Despite the fact that this particular controversy has exactly nothing to do with Israel, the email, which was otherwise polite, ended, “You are two dumb Likudnik monkeys.” [UPDATE: To clarify, this was the email author’s invention, and has nothing to do with “Lean Left.”]
For all I know, Matthew Hess is himself Jewish, but it’s irrelevant. “Likudnik” has become a term of disapprobium analogous to the term “Uncle Tom” for non-left-wing blacks. Just like it’s assumed that moderate, conservative, and libertarian blacks must not be thinking for themselves, but instead serving “the Man,” so moderate, conservative, and libertarian Jews must be serving the interests of right-wing Israelis (the obvious difference is that left-wing culture values African American self-interest and nationalism, while left-wing culture values Jews and Judaism only to the extent they are put in the service of internationalism and humanist causes.) “Authentic” Jews are Karl Marx (even though he was born and raised a Christian and was an anti-Semite), Emma Goldman, Schwerner and Goodman, et. al, while only “Likudniks,” i.e., Jews who have been blinded to the right and the good by nationalism, could possibly not be left-wing.
Well, the Left (along with the Washington Post, which used the term in a major article attacking Bush Admnistration neonconservatives) has let this particular anti-Semitic genie out of the bottle, and it’s their responsibility to put it back in. Let’s start by having a moratorium on the term “Likudnik” to refer to anyone but actual, declared supporters of Likud (I’m actually a Shinuinik, if anything), and only when they are supporting or justifying a policy on Israel-related affairs.
UPDATE: Pejman, who agrees with me, eviscerates a critic in his comments section.
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