Netanyahu’s re-election in Israel is far from a foregone conclusion

It appears from his recent letter to your newspaper that Charlie Murphy’s feelings have been hurt by challenges to his arguments about a resurgent anti-Semitism. 

He accuses his critics of playing ‘the man’, rather than addressing his thesis that Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank are to blame for the increase in anti-Jewish prejudice (Letters, 10 March).

In my reply on March 4, I explained the historical development of anti-Semitism, by saying that it predated the foundation of Israel by thousands of years. I focused on the xenophobic hatred of Jews of drunken louts who have no appreciation or understanding of Israel’s role in Gaza or the West Bank.