A few weeks ago, I pointed out that tribes often don’t have the same relationship to the nation state (in America, Canada, England, Australia, etc) as the majority population. They may well be less loyal — depending on circumstances — because they already have their own identities aside from being American or Australian etc and these traditions often go back thousands of years and exercise an atavistic pull that does not affect WASPs as much.
Christianity says to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Judaism has similar statements but in real life, Jews and Christians have oftne had different types of loyalties to their nation state.
As an Orthodox Jew, my primary loyalties are to Jews and to Judaism. That’s how things work for most members of traditional tribal communities. We may well observe the laws of the land to stay out of trouble but our primary concerns are tribal. Our “neighbors” are primarily our fellow tribe members. We get while the getting is good.
Most American Jews love America and are loyal to America but they also have competing loyalties to the Jewish people and to Israel and about 5% of the American Jews I’ve known have no loyalty to America.
Israeli spying on the United States has long been an open secret that is not much discussed in the media.
Whatever happened to honor among thieves? When the National Security Agency was caught eavesdropping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone, it was considered a rude way to treat a friend. Now U.S. intelligence officials are saying—albeit very quietly, behind closed doors on Capitol Hill—that our Israeli “friends” have gone too far with their spying operations here.
According to classified briefings on legislation that would lower visa restrictions on Israeli citizens, Jerusalem’s efforts to steal U.S. secrets under the cover of trade missions and joint defense technology contracts have “crossed red lines.”
Israel’s espionage activities in America are unrivaled and unseemly, counterspies have told members of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, going far beyond activities by other close allies, such as Germany, France, the U.K. and Japan. A congressional staffer familiar with a briefing last January called the testimony “very sobering…alarming…even terrifying.” Another staffer called it “damaging.”
The Jewish state’s primary target: America’s industrial and technical secrets.
