Dear Representative Harman,
I realize we have what has been characterized as a “special” relationship with Israel. No doubt, in certain respects, this has some mutual benefits. For example, we can buy genuine Rokeach candles made in Israel and Israel gets billions of U.S. dollars every year. While the relationship seems a bit unbalanced, it is certainly pretty special.
But at the same time, there are lines that even our very best friends do not cross if they wish to remain our friends. For example, if my best friend were to violate something sacrosanct by harming my wife or sexually molesting one of my children; our friendship would be over. I might even retaliate.
So there are limits to friendship — even very special friendships. In the case of two nations, one of those limitations is spying on defense-related information.
It needs to be understood that what Lord Palmerston said is absolutely true: “Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests.”
The very fact that Israel was spying (yet again) on our defense information proves beyond any reasonable doubt that Israel does NOT consider its interests to be parallel to our own. Thus, when a high public official acts to aid Israeli spies, they are ipso facto acting contrary to America’s interests.
There is a limit to friendship, and that limit is reached when a nation’s inner-sanctum is penetrated: in our case, national intelligence data. This has been an ongoing problem with Israel.When Nazi Germany landed spies in New York; we gave them a fair trial and then hung them by the neck until dead. I’m sorry — the fact that we aren’t hanging Israeli spies seems like more than sufficient leniency to me.
As an “American” sitting in our House of Representatives, I expected you to understand all of this. But, it turns out, you do not. Instead of putting America’s interests first; you are putting the interests of Israeli spies first.
It is time for you to do the right thing: resign from the House of Representatives because of your obvious conflict of interest.
What you do after that is up to you; but I would encourage you to go where your heart lies. If you are not already eligible for Israeli citizenship, I would encourage you to convert under the direction of an Orthodox rabbi; give up your American citizenship, and move to Israel.
In this way, you can be true to yourself; because you certainly aren’t being true to your oath of office or the American people. Your home is where your heart lies.
Very truly,
John Young