.> As for Nahum Goldmann, he became President of the World Zionist Organization from 1956 to 1968 but remained critical of Israel’s diplomacy, including its entry into the Cold War system on the side of the U.S. and its post-1967 rejectionism. He was also critical of the tactic of converting the Holocaust into a device to justify atrocities and murder. At the beginning of the Jewish New Year, in October 1981, he wrote:.> .> We will have to understand that Jewish suffering during the Holocaust no longer will serve as a protection, and we certainly must refrain from using the argument of the Holocaust to justify whatever we may do. To use the Holocaust as an excuse for the bombing of Lebanon, for instance, as Menachem Begin does, is a kind of “Hillul Hashem” [sacrilege], a banalization of the sacred tragedy of the Shoah [Holocaust], which must not be misused to justify politically doubtful and morally indefensible policies.24 [ Shalom Network Newsletter (Berkeley), Oct./Nov. 1981, reprinted from the London Jewish Chronicle. See p. 446*.] .> Goldmann was also one of those who felt that American “supporters of Israel” were causing it considerable harm. At the January 1981 meeting of the World Jewish Congress in Israel, he spoke of the need “to effect a change in our policy towards the Arabs.” “What Israel is doing in this regard is very bad,” he added, “and equally bad is the effect of the screams uttered by American Jewry.”25 [ Reprinted in Israel & Palestine (Paris), Oct./Nov. 1981. ] > He was also a sharp critic of the Lebanon invasion. Goldmann died in August 1982, after a lifetime of service to the Zionist cause. Prime Minister Begin did not attend his funeral and “no official statement of grief was issued by the government,” the American Jewish press observed, noting that this indicated the “shabby way” in which the Israeli government treats “its opponents.” A headline in the Jerusalem Post read: “Goldmann’s Death is Ignored.” PLO chairman Yasser Arafat sent condolences, stating: .> .> The Palestinians mourn the death of Nahum Goldmann. He was a Jewish statesman of a unique personality. He fought for justice and legitimate rights for all peoples.26 [World Jewish Congress News & Views,Sept. 1982; Jewish Post & Opinion, Sept. 17, 1982; SOUTH, November 1982.]
