U.S.-Israel and Spy Case

In his article (Opinion, March 15), “Israel: Old Ally, Old Snoop,” James Bamford quotes from an unconfirmed “secret CIA report” to raise an issue that many American Jews fear will come to haunt them in the wake of the Jonathan Pollard spy case: that American Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America, and thus cannot be trusted.

This notion is frightening and dangerous to Jews. Bamford’s article is typical of the hysteria of commentators about the patriotism and loyalty of America’s Jews.

The consequences of such hysteria, well-known in Nazi Germany, have always been considered unthinkable here. But if more people like Bamford are able to portray Jews as a “foreign” or “alien” or “untrustworthy” element, this country could embark along a path that would bode disaster for its Jewish population.

STEVEN E. ZIPPERSTEIN

Los Angeles