Israel’s Use of Detention

I thought that the day would never come when I would praise one of Conrad’s cartoons, but here it is. I am very happy about his depiction of Israel as Michelangelo’s David holding a rocket and an atom bomb. I wish I could send a copy of it to every influential Arab in the Middle East.

I am quite certain that Conrad meant the cartoon to be derogatory, but if so, he missed the mark. The impression that he conveyed is that here is Israel, standing tall, strong, and even better able to defeat the Goliaths.

We live in a world that doesn’t respect morality--it respects strength.

If Israel had relied exclusively on a higher moral standard and on love of democracy, it would have ceased to exist in 1948, a few weeks after declaring its independence. It survived because, in addition to being more moral than its enemies, it also was stronger. Israel’s enemies kept testing this strength, and after every defeat it would take them about 10 years to forget the previous debacle and try to destroy Israel once again.

Conrad’s cartoon is a reminder of Israel’s strength. It shows that this time the petty kinglets and dictators will not be personally safe--no matter how far they are from the remote battlefields that used to be reserved for the hundreds of thousands of expendable bodies they sent to die. Israel’s rockets and Israel’s atomic capability are guarantees of peace, much stronger guarantees than any piece of paper signed by transitory Arab politicians.

I commend Conrad for this reminder of Israel’s strength. I hope that it is taken as such by those who would destroy Israel.

SI FRUMKIN

Studio City