The American people, thank God, are not likely to be bamboozled by their intellectuals, and thank God again, Israel is defended by good fundamentalist Christians. Still, one must not underestimate the potential danger that an erosion in Israel’s moral position poses for Israel and for the American Jewish community. This danger must be met by mounting a massive educational effort.

A recent piece by Ha’aretz’s former editor Hanoch Mamari (“A Fine and Fragile Balance”, April 16th) unintentionally helps explain how much of the Israeli media has become an intolerant ideological mouthpiece for a small and increasingly radical elite.

My recent piece “NPR’s Bias against Israel” demonstrating how National Public Radio repeatedly promoted Arab propaganda line by distorting facts or ignoring them, and drew many responses. Most felt that a warning about NPR’s success in defaming Israel, especially among inexperienced, “idealistic” university students, was long overdue.

But even more instructive, perhaps, were the few angry responses I received from avid NPR listeners who identify strongly with the station’s message and who are convinced that NPR stance against Israel is justified.

The BBC is at the forefront of the anti-Israel media pack in Europe. It has been so effective in smearing Israel as a rogue state that in a recent poll, Europeans rated Israel as more dangerous to world peace than Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, or Iran or North Korea.

Those who wonder why Israel was chosen, in a recent European poll, as the state most dangerous to world peace, must only read or watch the European media. Any European who knows little about Israel – and most Europeans naturally do not know much – and gets the picture from the European media would vote the same.

A recent BBC film “Israel’s Secret Weapons”, devoted to exposing Israel as a prime international threat, worse than Saddam Hussein (it was made prior to the American invasion, in fact it was part of an effort to delegitimate Bush’s effort by showing that the US ally, Israel, is by far the greater offender and if anyone should be bombed, Israel should be first) is a prime example of how the European media vilifies Israel.