Alienation and evil

David Mamet, a quintessential Jewish American writer, has written a book consisting of a series of essays entitled, "The Wicked Son." This was reviewed in the Jerusalem Post this weekend by Abigail Radoszkowitz, and purports to describe the beliefs of the prevalent liberal-leftist Jewish Americans who are extremely critical of Israel for two reasons, overtly because it is consistent with their liberal humanitarian view that Israel is a "colonial", "imperialist" military power mistreating the poor native Palestinians, and covertly because it allows them to identify with the majority of liberal-leftist non-Jews who hold these views, and therefore they can meld into the general population of their contemporaries. Needless to say the title comes from the "wicked son," one of the four described in the Hagaddah, who asks "what is this service to you?" thus separating and distancing himself deliberately from the Jewish people.
When I was growing up my father always said during the Seder that I was the "wicked" son, because I was profoundly non-religious, or actually then anti-religious. No doubt part of this was the usual camouflage of self-hate, for being different in a non-Jewish world and resenting it. Surprisingly, despite this alienation, I turned out to have an intense Jewish identification and a strong Zionist attitude, even though coming from the same origin I might have turned out different. For example, Tony Judt and Richard Cohen, two prominent Jewish Americans have expressed the view that Israel is illegitimate, and should never have come into existence, and the resulting wars and killings (of Jews and Arabs) result from this original "mistake." They are the perfect examples of the "wicked son," self-hating, Arab-accomodating Jews. Of course, my views are diametrically opposed to theirs, I say that all the killing results from the inability of the Arabs to come to terms with the legitimacy of Israel, and the onus is on them to reform and accept. Pending that, Israel needs to fight them in self-defense because they are intent on killing us. Now that there are 6 million Jews in Israel, would Judt and Cohen and their ilk see us left at the mercy of the surrounding Arabs. Are they eager for another Holocaust?
Not having read the book and taking the review as my basis, Mamet's prescription for restoring these alienated Jewish sons to Jewish identity is for them to delve into Judaism. They should be as reverent (or more so) of Chanukkah as they are of Christmas and Kwanzaa, they should take the belief and ritual of Reform Judaism as seriously as their characteristically Jewish committment to social betterment.
But, I am sceptical that any religious approach would be persuasive for these lapsed Jews. On the contrary, I think they should be hit where they are most vulnerable, in the area of political committment. They should be challenged to support Israel's right to exist as a member of the UN as much as that of Ireland or India, whose contemporary existence also caused much suffering (or more so). Why should Israel be less legitimate than (say) Jordan or Lebanon, whose independence they would no doubt support. Ignoring the over-whelming historical and moral basis for the existence of the State of Israel is the lacuna in their souls, their self-negating raison d'etre.
It is difficult to make a wicked person righteous, but you can look for the place where he strays from the rightful path. If I examine my own views, then it is clear that I experienced and read about how Jews were (and are) persecuted in this world, and saw the necessity of the existence of the Jewish State as the only viable solution. I perceived the right and righteous conclusion and they did not.