[alienthrowaway]

Conflating the state of Israel with all Jewish people & implying all of have (a secret) allegiance to Israel, regardless of their citizenship is actual anti-Semitism. Correctly identifying folk who fought for Israel is not anti-Semitic in any way the allegiance at the time they served in an elite unit is clear to all.

[otterley]

You’re responding to an argument that I’m not making. I said there is a connection, which is true. Obviously not everyone living in Israel is Jewish, nor is everyone there a practicing Jew. But the founders’ purpose remains and is woven throughout society and its constitution.

And people aren’t just “identifying folk.” This thread has devolved into a debate about Israel itself, which invariably happens when Israel is even tangentially involved in a story.

[alienthrowaway]

I am highlighting that the "connection" you mention is frequently used in bad faith by actual anti-semites, as well as the pro-Likud propagandists who suggest that any criticism of the government of Israel or its policies is antisemitism, as if the current government and Jewish people are interchangeable.