For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

My regular readers know that I rarely write about Israeli politics. I only recall one article. I avoid the subject for two main reasons. It is not my place as an American living in New York to tell Israelis what to do or think. Secondly, it is hard half a world away to get a feel of the players involved, whether it is the elected officials, the media, or ordinary citizens. I must be in Israel and be on top of daily political machinations to be able to have a reasonable basis to comment on the situation in Israel. There are others who feel differently so I will make some general remarks to them.

As of Sunday, November 17, 2019, when I wrote my column, there had only been three witnesses who testified in open session at President Trump’s impeachment hearing: Acting Ukraine Ambassador William Taylor, Assistant Deputy Secretary of State George Kent, and the former United States Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich.

The president and I have something in common: Neither one of us served in the armed forces. Trump got a doctor to get him a medical deferment from serving in the military during the Vietnam War, and by the time I turned 18 there was no longer any draft.

By the time this column is published, the open hearing of the impeachment inquiry will have begun.

The fact that we are at this juncture is due to people who put our country before their own personal gain.

So much has happened this past week that it is hard to decide what to address. I decided that it would be best to discuss various issues that may have been underreported.

Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, in his column, “Reform Jew Responsible for Wall Street Scandal” (Queens Jewish Link, October 31, 2019), bemoans the fact that this headline will never happen. He gave an example from The New York Times about Michael Milken, which did not mention that he was Jewish. Rabbi Schonfeld argues, in contrast, that when it relates to an Orthodox Jew, there is a different standard. His example is from a Daily News article, “Rudy Pals Aided by Jewish Bigs,” which has a smaller headline of “Right-Wing Orthodox Helped Get GOP Access.”