State of the State
I am all for free speech. I believe in book reviews. However, there is no possible reason for Hadassah Magazine to honor Michael Chabon (profile, October issue), a man who doesn’t believe that Israel needs to exist.

On the first page of his book, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (HarperCollins), Israel never became a country. Basically, Chabon doesn’t believe it’s important that the Jewish people have a homeland in Eretz Israel. I tried to put that out of my mind as I read the book and I could not.

Doni Heyman
Via e-mail

Defining Friendship
In the article about Winston Churchill (“Letter from London: A Well-Spoken Friend” in the October issue) and his attitude toward Jews, Sir Martin Gilbert leaves out some pertinent information. We are told about what Churchill wrote and said in 1920 in support of Jews and their desire for a Jewish state. However, Gilbert omitted to mention that, in 1922, as colonial secretary, Churchill cut off about 79 percent of the League of Nations’ Palestine Mandate (the whole area east of the Jordan River) and gave it to the Arabs as a way of trying to stop their terrorism. Also, there is no mention that Prime Minister Churchill did not allow Jews escaping the Holocaust to enter Mandatory Palestine, which he was supposed to help develop into a Jewish state.

By omitting these important facts, Gilbert offers a very skewed view of Churchill’s “friendship” to Jews.

Aharon Goldberg
Hatzor Haglilit, Israel

Good for the Jews?
I was pleased to read Charley J. Levine’s interview with John Hagee (October issue), especially since the interviewer asked good questions and allowed Pastor Hagee to respond without an attempt to interpret or misinterpret his remarks. Although many mainstream churches, those of a more liberal nature, are siding with the Arab cause, it is time for American Jews to recognize that Evangelical Christians are on their side when it comes to Israel.

As Zev Chafets writes in his latest book, A Match Made in Heaven (HarperCollins): “I looked hard for evidence that the Evangelicals are insincere, cynical, or devious in their attitude toward Israel and the Jews, and I didn’t find it. They may love Jews too much. They may love Jews for the wrong reasons. They may, in the future, not love Jews at all. But for now, the Evangelical Christians of America are not the enemy. They are the enemy of the enemy, and they want to be accepted and appreciated. In return they are offering a wartime alliance and full partnership in a Judeo-Christian America. It is an offer the Jews of America should consider while it is still on the table.”

As a survivor of the Holocaust and a naturalized American Jew, I know that this time we are not alone. On a global level we have the United States that sides with Israel politically, economically and morally. But we also need support on a more personal level and that we have in the Evangelical Christians.

Jews have always shown gratitude in the past. Please, let’s do so now!

Esther Littmann
Rose Township, MI

It troubled me to find an interview with John Hagee in Hadassah Magazine.

His organization, Christians United for Israel, masks as a supporter of the State of Israel when in fact their ultimate agenda is for all Jews to convert to Christianity. In my opinion, they are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Why Hadassah chose to give Hagee a platform in its current issue is beyond my comprehension, especially since the group’s real goal was not mentioned. The fact that Hagee addressed the 2007 AIPAC conference is also a disgrace!

Anita C. Singer
Laguna Woods, CA