moral imagination is empathy, and all self-aware people have it. red-necks, right-wing conservatives, and certain fundamental religious sects don't because they see the world as black & white, right & wrong. absolutism delivers one from the restraints of empathy by claiming it to be a weakness. anti-semitism is only alive at the fringes, it is a vocal minority however. most well-read and educated americans see israel as a crucial ally in the struggle against extremism and see humanity different after being fully enlightened by what happened to jews last century. its not just jews that are left with with the legacy of the holocaust. every human who studies it loses his/her innocence in a way, knowing that we are capable of such a thing. democrats and republicans both have their own reasons for supporting israel, so a nuculear holcaust there would have repurcussions from the states. this might be sufficient determent for any arab state... but if extremists get the bomb nowhere in the world will be safe. israel has natural underground cave systems i beleive, they should consider constructing a city-wide warren.