Former Sen. Patrick Leahy wants our government to apply his namesake law to Israel and sanction units of the Israeli Defense Forces on the basis of alleged gross violations of human rights.

Colonel Richard Kemp, commander of British forces in Afghanistan, considers the Israeli army the most moral in the world, more moral than our American army and more moral than his own British army. John Spencer, recognized as our leading expert in urban warfare, says the Israeli army has taken steps to protect the civilian population of its enemies never before taken by any other army in history, including our American army.

Unless we are to apply a double standard to Israel, our only reliable friend and ally in the volatile Middle East, if we are to sanction any units of its army, then we must also sanction units of every other army in the world, including our own. I oppose sanctioning our American army and I oppose sanctioning the Israeli army, particularly at this moment when it is not only fighting a war for the existence of the only democracy in the Middle East, but in so doing is also on the front line in the defense of America and the entire free world.

Alan Stein

Natick, Mass.

The writer, formerly a longtime resident of Connecticut, is President Emeritus of PRIMER-Connecticut (Promoting Responsibility in Middle East Reporting).