One Jerusalem: Tom Friedman's Israel Meltdown

Members of America's Jewish elite are the New York Times columnist Tom Friedman's loyal followers. Never does a discussion about public affairs include a mention of Friedman unless there is a secular Jew in the crowd. But over the years even members of that group have been dwindling. Friedman is no longer the guru one must agree with -- Paul Krugman seems to have taken over that role.


But Friedman is sill alive with a New York Times platform to preach from. And like the Times, whose influence has diminished, Friedman has become more and more outlandish in his criticisms of Israel in a pathetic attempt to make headlines and get attention.

His latest tantrum played out in an interview on Israeli television. It seems that Tom was trying to focus attention on a typical Friedman column in the New York Times that no one paid attention to. So he took to Israel's airwaves spewing forth ridiculous claims - such as  that American Jews are growing tired of Israel because Israel is making demands of the Palestinian Authority. He spends a lot of energy demeaning Israel's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as Jewish State.

The Jerusalem Post reports: "He jokingly said that Israel is asking for "Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Abbas] to sing Hatikva [Israel's national anthem] in perfect Yiddish."

Can Friedman embarrass himself any more than by uttering this contemptuous statement?