As someone who loves Israel more than anything in this world, I can not stand to see the direction it is going in. You people on the right wing think you have a monopoly on patriotism, even though it is usually the left (not the far-left) that serves in Israel, dies for Israel, and prop up Israel's economy and give it all of it's accomplishments. The ultra-orthodox just live on hard-working Israeli's backs while they don't even serve. The settlers upset the entire world and make life more dangerous for the bulk of Israeli society. American Jews are not happy with these settlements. For all that we do for Israel, can't Israel repay us just a little bit??

You're no longer the Voice of Epiphany. In summary: you lost it, you lost what ever legitimacy you might have had in the ME affairs because you overlooked the events in the Arab Spring, your missunderstanding of the ramifications as a result, just to justify Obama's luck of leadership and forsight. Now, you turning your keyboard towards your ever 'intellectual' refuge that is Israel, to revive any spectre of legitimacy for your re-entrance into the New ME. Favour, get yourself acquainted with the new reality on the ground. It's been quite sometime your last visit to Beiruth.

When will the lefties get it that the middle east is committed to wiping Israel of the face of the map?

He can come and live here and be elected for parlament. Than he can push his ideas. As long as he lives far away he better keeps his mouth and criticize his own politicians.

Apartheid right wing government? Are you kidding me? Frankly, if I were a black South African, who had to live under that genuinely oppressive apartheid regime, I would probably want to spit in the face of the hypocrites who even dare to make that comparison. Not only that, but maybe instead of swallowing all the Palestinian agitprop, you should educate yourself about what really goes on in Israel where there are Arab doctors, lawyers, Supreme Court judges and even members of the Knesset, some of whose terrorist sympathies and fascistic ideology would never be tolerated in the civilized world. And let's not even talk about what would happen to these kinds fifth columnists in any of the retrograde Muslim countries that Israel is surrounded by.

Better for Israel to be ruled by arrogant far right wing then by arrogant extreme left wingers lunatics, like you and your kind friedman!

Whatever your political view on the subject, if you want to tell the Israeli govt. how to proceed, you need to be an Israeli citizen, and then you can use your vote to try to get the results you want. You can't tell the Israeli govt. how to proceed from the USA. You can only offer advice: and if the Israeli govt chose not to follow it, as they believe it is not in their best interest, you have to accept that. It's their country, not yours. It's like laying down the law to your son about what he should do with his life, when he doesn't think your plan is at at all right for him, and he's 36 already! All that will happen is he will do what he thinks is best for himself anyway, and you'll fall out over it. A decent parent would offer advice only, and still love and stand by their son even if he did something else.

the trouble with friedman is that this isn't just the sound of one hand clapping. he has routinely been the hatchet man for the white house, saying (mostly anti-israeli) things that were not politically convenient to come directly from the oval office - such as "intelligence leaks" to forestall an israeli raid on iran, etc. like the eu countries who "summoned" israeli ambassadors, friedman's piece is an expression of the administration's virulent animus towards the construction of jewish homes, in which the obama administration even exceeds the demands of the palestinian authority. friedman is just a court jew, parroting the views of the court. and november hasn't changed obama's stripes.

The 1947 partition did not create Jordan (then "Transjordan"), it explicitly called for an Arab state on the West Bank next to Israel.

Even if you hate to be associated to Israeli jews, you should try to live sometime as an Israeli does. What would you do if somehow Israel is eliminated by a sudden nuclear assault ? Would you feel that your guts have been teared apart or, as I suspect, would yousit happly to write down your self-flagellating column entitled: I told you so.

Re. the 'Arrgogant article..... I take great exception to the vitriolic and scathing condemnation which Mr Friedman has drawn from most, if not all, of your Correspondents. In these uncertain times, when tactics are unclear; when there are so many opinions and when circumstances change so rapidly, how can we be certain and confirmed in our views that a particular strategy is the right course of action for Israel unless Mr Friedman has opposed it....? How may we be sure that an undertaking is unquestionably not in Israels interest unless Mr Friedman comes out strongly and clearly in print in its favour. I say more power to Mr Friedman's pen. Unquestionably, he lights the way.....

...has a new tube of Lip chap protector. Keep on kissin' Tom.

watching jewish behavior in israel it is clear why jews are shunned and persecuted; jews can not live in peace with neighbors; if there are no neighbors around they attack each other; this fatal flaw gives jews their character and suffering

Uncle Tom Friedman who makes a living making ridiculous criticisms of Israel. Doesn"t he have something else to do with his time. Of course the NYT gives him a forum. During WW2 when 6 million Jews were being murdered by the Germans in Europe the NYT refused to report on the genocide. Some of the biggest haters of Jews, dissiminators of hatred of the Jewish people are Jews, former Jews, and their allies.

Uncle Tom friedmann if its good for israel he is against it. If its bad for israel he is in favor. what does Uncle Tom want? Uncle Tom want the establishment of a second arab terrorist state in Judea and Samaria enabling the arab terrorists to attack and murder the Jewish people living in Judea, Samaria, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The fact that this state will be controlled by Iran and islamic Jihad is something he whole heartedly supports from his mansion in Maryland and his desk at the New York Times. We have seen Jews like this before. Rocket fire from Gaza, Jews attacked and maimed and murdered make his day. Need I say more.

this deranged writer can comment as such. most muslims want jihad .

Don't you think you should learn what arpatheid means before you start using the word in public?

He is a follower of the Jüdische Ghetto-Polizei in WWII.

Somewhere a rock is looking for its' snake.

And what does the great friedman think that the contiguous state would entail? Isn't Israel between gaza and the west bank? Huh? Don't know why anyone reads his column. He writes inflammatory articles only to keep his job.

SHUMCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You Really Should Have Your Head Examined!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from a Leftist Socialist un-Jew. The logic is so off-the-wall. If the US sincerely does not want the Arabs to upgrade their status, they should also support Israel need to protect Jerusalem from undeserving Arab racists. Anything or anyone that believes Jerusalem is an Arab city, is a dangerous, historical revisionist who won't apologize when the Arabs attempt genocide again, against the Jewish people.

is a huge epidemic, eh?

Bankrupt, corrupt, a terrorist state that enjoys seeing babies having their throats cut in their sleep. The State of Palestine could have been a FULL UN member years ago if you had just accepted Israel and I am talking about before June 1967. No. you Arabs pursued a terror and racist war against Israel and the Muslim World (except the "old and decent" Turkey) declared war on Israel. BRAVO! Now, instead of living in your own country prospering and working side by side with Israel, you live in in dung heap, teaching your children hatred instead of how to build your state. Your "State" can't even survive with Israel collecting your taxes, with Israeli electricity and Israeli "Settlers" whom you hate, giving you jobs in building the homes so you can eat! State of Palestine - what a joke! Disneyland gone wild!

one day, when she opens her gates to let you in when and if you flee for your life from the police state of America under the current administration...

and its advertisers until they dump Friedman and their anti-Israeli rhetoric. When Friedman talks about a "peace ideas", all his ideas lead to yet another Iranian proxy to the west of Israel. He is as even handed about Israel as Ahmadinejad. Friedman is deaf, dumb and blind to to the history of the region, the plight of the Jews, and along with Obama, is on the wrong side. May he perish in his own private hell!